Liam Payne’s close friend has been cleared of manslaughter charges (

Image: Getty)

Liam Payne’s close friend, businessman Roger Nores, is now returning to the UK after charges against him were dropped over the tragic death of the One Direction singer

Liam Payne’s close friend Roger Nores has shared his heartbreaking plans after charges against him were dropped.

The multimillionaire US businessman is now a ‘happy’ free man after he was accused of negligent manslaughter following the One Direction star’s death. Singer Liam tragically died at the age of 31 in October last year after fatally falling from a third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

His pal Roger, who saw him in the days before his death and left Liam’s hotel an hour before his fall, was accused of abandoning the dad-of-one. Now, all charges against Roger have been dropped, and he is delighted. His lawyer, Rafael Cuneo Libarona, said Roger was “only his friend and had no duty or legal obligation to ensure his safety”.

Roger Nores is now a free man and plans to travel to the UK to ‘say goodbye’ to his friend Liam ( 
Image:
Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Following the announcement, Roger said: “These last few months have been hard but now I am cleared of anything to do with Liam’s death, I am delighted to be a free man and innocent of all charges. Liam was my friend, and I am so sorry for what happened, but as my legal team and I explained to the court very clearly, I had nothing to do with it, and I am not in any way responsible.”

Speaking from Buenos Aires, the businessman shared his plans to visit the UK and, heartbreakingly, say his final goodbyes to his late friend, Liam. He told Rolling Stone: “Glad this is finally over. I’m happy I’m now going to be able to travel to the UK and say goodbye to my friend.” It comes after a source claimed Roger was ‘not welcome’ at the singer’s private church funeral in November.

The source previously told The Sun: “Liam’s family want his funeral to go off without a hitch and right now, opinions are strained when it comes to Roger. It’s true he and Liam had a bond but he’s never been popular when it comes to Liam’s wider circle. There is a difference in the narrative, Roger would say he stepped back from working with Liam – others would say he was pushed.

“Many people didn’t even know Liam and Roger had reconnected until his fateful trip to Argentina last month. Due to the ongoing investigation in Argentina, he’s not welcome at this week’s service.” Liam’s parents, his former bandmates, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and the mother of his son, ex-girlfriend Cheryl Tweedy, all attended.

Liam asked Roger to be the best man at his wedding, but never managed to propose to girlfriend Kate ( 
Image:
PA)
Earlier this month, Roger spoke to the press for the first time following Liam’s death and opened up about how he tried to help his friend overcome his addictions in his last months of life. He claimed that Liam was sober for four months in the US, before relapsing during a trip to the UK in August. He also stated that Liam got sober again before tragically spiralling in his final days.

Liam and Roger formed an unlikely bond in 2020, and for years, he was allegedly unaware of Liam’s dark demons. But in May 2024, he said he received a call from Liam’s manager to tell him that Liam had “dangerously overdosed” in the UK and doctors had “resuscitated” him. Roger claimed Liam’s dad, Geoff, had him sectioned for 90 days after the incident, but Liam “talked his way out after just three”.

It was then he allegedly turned to Roger. “He knew he needed help. I was in LA working at the time. I said if he could get to Miami, I’d meet him there,” he told the Daily Mail. Liam moved into a Florida apartment with his new girlfriend, Kate, and Roger and another friend allegedly surrounded him with a team of professionals, including an addiction specialist and psychiatrist.

Roger said: “He did four months sober.” Roger claimed that Liam “required 24-hour attention” and it was “draining”, but as a friend, he wanted to help him.

He said he noticed a huge change in Liam, who was apparently looking after himself and back in the gym, but then “everything went wrong”. In August 2024, the 1D star travelled back to the UK for a work commitment – a decision Roger didn’t agree with.

Liam’s dad Geoff allegedly tried to get Liam psychiatric treatment months before his death ( 
Image:
Express & Star / SWNS)
He believed it would be “too easy for him to relapse” and the pair had the “biggest argument” over it. Unfortunately, just as Roger feared, Liam allegedly relapsed while in the UK. But the pal says that when Liam returned to the US, he appeared to go sober again.

Roger said he saw Liam a few times and was under the impression he hadn’t touched a single drug, but sadly, it did not last. Roger met Liam in Argentina and spent time with him a few days before his death. On October 13, Liam allegedly ask Roger if he would be the best man at his wedding to Kate – despite having not yet proposed.

“He told me he wanted to marry Kate. We discussed ideas for his proposal, and then he asked me to be the best man. ‘You’ll have to do a speech’, he joked, but he told me it would be fun,” Roger told the Mail. Heartbreakingly, Liam never got around to proposing.

On October 16, the day he died, Roger left Liam in the lobby of the hotel at 4.06 pm, just an hour before he fatally fell from the balcony.

The friend claims that Liam was sober when he left. Then Liam’s behaviour became more erratic. The receptionist pleaded with emergency services to come to his aid and said: “We have a guest who’s off his head on drugs and is destroying everything in his room. We need someone to come.”

But devastatingly, Liam’s body was found on an internal patio, and it was reported he suffered “severe injuries which were incompatible with life”. A toxicology report found traces of alcohol and cocaine in Liam’s system.