Liam tragically died aged 31 after falling from his hotel balcony (
Image: Getty Images for Bauer Media)

Prosecutors in Argentina are said to be appealing a judge’s decision to charge Liam Payne’s ‘manager’ Roger Nores with manslaughter following his devastating death

Prosecutors in Argentina are considering appealing a judge’s decision to charge Liam Payne’s friend Roger Nores with the singer’s manslaughter.

Initially, they had requested that he be charged for crimes, namely abandoning a person who died as well as supplying drugs, which could have seen him face up to 15 years behind bars if convicted.

On Friday, judge Laura Bruniard decided to charge the American citizen with manslaughter. While he faces the serious allegation, if convicted, he could spend up to five years behind bars or could end up with a suspended sentence. The judge based her indictment decision on the fact Nores was not at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires when Liam plunged to his death around 5pm on October 16 following a drink and drugs binge.

However, Nores was at the hotel at least 50 minutes before Liam tragically fell to his death. The former One Direction singer tragically died aged just 31. He fell from the third floor of a hotel. An autopsy ruled that Liam had died instantly after his fall which caused “multiple traumatic injuries” and subsequently led to “internal and external haemorrhage.”

The investigation into Liam’s tragic death is still ongoing ( 
Image:
Getty Images for The ATC)

Prosecutors are said to be be considering appealing the decision to charge Roger (left) with manslaughter ( 
Image:
@_derekmilton/tiktok)

Bruniard said in her ruling that she had no evidence that Nores had supplied Liam with drugs. He has since been banned from leaving Argentina during the investigation. On Monday, December 30, public prosecutor Andres Madrea was said to be analysing a possible appeal as Nores and the other four suspects indicted alongside him study their own attempts to try to get the charges against them dropped before the case gets to trial.

Earlier this month Mr Madrea notched up a victory against the judge after getting a higher court to reverse her decision to rule herself out of the ongoing criminal probe sparked by Liam’s death on a technicality. Mrs Bruniard had claimed the case had to be investigated by a conventional Buenos Aires court under Argentinian law because one of the allegations was Liam, 31, had been abandoned before his death.

Mr Madrea’s submission that her decision was “premature” was accepted on appeal. The other two men charged with manslaughter are chief receptionist Esteban Grassi and head of security Gilda Martin. The judge has pointed the finger at them over their decision to move Liam from the lobby to his third-floor room when he couldn’t stand on his feet because of his prior drink and drug binge, saying it “created a legally unacceptable risk to his life” which had “foreseeable” consequences.

Waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz, 24, and 21-year-old Ezequiel David Pereyra, currently suspended from his job at the Buenos Aires hotel, have been charged with supplying Liam with drugs. The judge said in her ruling there was evidence pointing to both men selling the singer cocaine on two separate occasions.

Mr Paiz’s lawyer Fernando Madeo appeared to indicate he would appeal the decision to indict his client in the coming days after blasting the judge’s decision yesterday as “illegitimate, unfounded and arbitrary.” He said: “Brian made a very extensive statement and gave all the facts. Among them, he stated that he met Liam on two occasions.

“Among several issues, which they did in a private environment, they also consumed narcotics but it is not true that he sold him drugs.” Mr Nores told a recent TMZ documentary examining the life and death of Liam Payne that he was “in good spirits and perfectly balanced” the day he died as he refuted claims the singer was acting erratically and was intoxicated shortly before his fatal fall.

The businessman had previously protested his innocence and refuted claims he was Liam’s ‘de facto’ manager. He said in a statement shortly after it emerged he was being officially investigated before being charged: “I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened. There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left. I could have never imagined something like this would happen. I’ve given my statement to the prosecutor on October 17 as a witness and I haven’t spoken to any police officer or prosecutor ever since.

“I wasn’t Liam’s manager. He was just my very dear friend.” Argentinian prosecutors referred to Nores in a lengthy statement they released yesterday as the “victim’s representative” although they identified him only by his initials R.L.N. The judge in her indictment ruling accused Nores of “failing in his duty of care, assistance and help” towards Liam and “abandoning him to his fate, knowing he couldn’t fend for himself, aware he suffered multiple additions to alcohol and cocaine and fully conscious of the state of intoxication, vulnerably and defenceless he was in.”

But Liam’s family are said to be thinking that after almost three months, justice may be served for the music megastar. Speaking to The Sun, a friend of the family said: “It’s been a very difficult Christmas for them but they now just want justice for their son. Finally, after a horrific couple of months, there is a feeling like this could be possible.”