Liam Payne: Ex-One Direction star suffered drug overdose and was 'sectioned' months before death, says friend

Liam Payne died at the age of 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 16, 2024. A coroner ruled that the singer died from “polytrauma”, with traces of “alcohol, cocaine and a prescribed antidepressant” also found in his system at the time of his death.

Five people have been arrested and charged in connection with Payne’s death. One of those people is Roger Nores, a close friend of Payne who has been accused of manslaughter after Argentinian prosecutors alleged he “abandoned” the singer before his death and failed in his duty of care.

Nores has now claimed in an interview with the Daily Mail that Payne’s father Geoff had his son “sectioned” after he suffered from a serious drug overdose in May 2024. Nores said: “Originally, they tried to have him sectioned for 90 days.

“That ended up getting cut down to 30 days. But Liam talked his way out after just three.”

He added Payne had been supported by a team of professionals after leaving the facility, with the singer “really looking after himself” and attempting to curb his addiction. Nores told the newspaper: “He knew he needed help.

“He did four months sober. Liam then began to go to the gym every day. He was really looking after himself.

“And it wasn’t easy. He required 24-hour attention. Anyone who’s looked after an addict knows that it isn’t straightforward. It was draining, but I wanted to do it – that’s what friends are for. After four months, I truly believed he had turned a corner.”

Nores filed a $10m defamation lawsuit against Payne’s father Geoff, alleging that he had made sworn statements to Argentinian investigators that were “false, contained material omissions, and many parts were not based on personal knowledge”. He contests allegations that Payne was in the care of him and his girlfriend Kate Cassidy “due to his addictions”, with Nores stating in court documents that his and Payne’s relationship was misrepresented.

He said in documents that the pair enjoyed a “dear mutual friendship” but that he “ever had a legal duty of care” towards Payne. He told the Mail: “We were friends and that was all I wanted to be.”