Liam Payne came ‘close to death’ several times due to his drug usage, claims friend

Rolling Stone

Liam Payne’s drug usage brought him “close to death” multiple times months before his fatal fall in October, according to his friend Roger Nores.

In a 91-page filing obtained by Rolling Stone Thursday, Nores — who is accused of abandonment followed by death — described the alleged depth of Payne’s drug abuse, which he claims led to several hospitalizations, multiple rehab center visits, and two resuscitations in just the last two years.

Last week, a judge called for an “indagatoria,” which requires suspects in a case to be questioned as part of the investigation. Suspects are not required to respond to questioning, and can submit written responses, as Nores did Wednesday. It is not a deposition. The document — which includes Nores’ version of events, and screenshots of conversations with people close to the former One Direction member — was filed by Nores to support his defense to the charge of abandonment of a person, followed by death.

“I was a friend who loved him very much, who helped him selflessly in everything I could, who spent my own money to help him, and even then it was not enough,” writes Nores in Spanish in the document obtained by Rolling Stone. “I do not consider that I deserve the accusation that is being leveled at me.”

In the filing, Nores claims that Payne was in and out of rehabilitation centers in Europe and the United States in the months leading up to his death, that he consumed heroin, and that his usage of substances nearly killed him several times.

In one instance, in September 2023, Nores alleges that Payne “suffered from a severe intoxication that left him close to death,” and that he was hospitalized for three days in Milan. He claims that at the time, Payne was forced to cancel a Latin American tour because of the incident and his subsequent visit to a rehab center. (Payne had canceled the tour that August due to a “bad kidney infection.”)

“Because of his addictions, Payne continued to attend rehab centers of his own free will in an attempt to overcome them,” the statement contends. “Unfortunately, these treatments were not successful and his addiction worsened as he began to use harder drugs, such as heroin.”

Nores claims that Payne was hospitalized twice again in London in late 2023, and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance due to his “high levels of intoxication,” where he had to be resuscitated. “Professionals had to resort to resuscitation maneuvers to save his life, without his family or friends being able to do anything to avoid these situations or help him,” Nores alleges.

Nores claims that Payne’s drug issues continued to worsen at the beginning of 2024, and that Payne entered a rehabilitation facility in Spain in March. Payne left the rehab center before completing treatment and returned to consuming drugs, Nores claims. Payne then allegedly had to be resuscitated again following a near overdose the following month.

“Liam suffered a new relapse in his addiction, so he was again taken to the hospital in serious condition, and the professionals had to resort to resuscitation maneuvers to save his life,” Nores claims. He further alleges that after this incident, Payne’s father attempted to admit him to a psychiatric treatment center, but that Payne opposed the idea.

Since he was not legally required to stay there, Payne checked himself out of the hospital and returned to the United States to seek help for his drug addiction, Nores claims. The filing contends that Payne’s family and friends allowed him to do drugs the day before he left for the States to “avoid that he become violent.” (The document does not specify the exact timeline of his return to the United States.

Nores maintains that Payne did not consume drugs that summer, including during a trip to Argentina when Payne went to a Louis Tomlinson show in South America. However, by the start of August, Nores claims that he and Payne had a “strong argument” where he discouraged Payne from returning to Manchester, England, because Nores could tell that Payne had started using drugs again.

In an Aug. 23 email obtained by Rolling Stone, Nores writes to Payne’s attorney and father Geoff that he is “really concerned for his well-being” in the United Kingdom. “I hope you can bring professional doctors to check on his health regularly as soon as possible as I did while he was out in the US,” Nores wrote. “I am going to stay fully out of the picture and disconnected from now on and I wish you all the best with Liam’s health and career.”

Reps for Payne’s family in Argentina and the United Kingdom did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment on Nores’ filing. Nores did not comment.

Nores’ “abandonment followed by death” charge accuses him of leaving Payne while knowing that he was unable to care for himself and/or that he wasn’t in his right mind. For said charge, Nores could face five to 15 years in prison. In Wednesday’s filing, Nores maintains that he was not his doctor, lawyer, or representative, and claims that when he left Payne at the hotel the day he died, he was “greeting fans” and seemed to be fine. (He told TMZ that he was “playful” and in “good spirits.”)

In the document, Nores pivots blame to the hotel staff for carrying Payne’s body to his room where there was more of a risk of death. According to a 911 call, the reception head claimed the musician had been “breaking everything in his room” prior to the fatal fall. “If Liam had not been brought into the room by force, and had been left in the lobby and a doctor had been called while they saw him convulsing, none of this would have happened,” reads the filing.

Along with Nores, the other four people charged in the case responded to indagatorias. Next, the judge must determine whether the defendants should be further prosecuted, dropped from the case, or if there isn’t evidentiary support for either decision.

Payne died at the age of 31 of multiple traumas and internal bleeding after falling from the third-floor balcony of the CasaSur Palermo hotel on Oct. 16. In November, prosecutors identified alcohol, cocaine, and a prescribed antidepressant in Payne’s system at the time of his death, according to a toxicology report. Many questions still loom about what led to his death.

On Saturday, Payne’s fans held a march in Buenos Aires calling for significant and timely advances in the investigation. The gathering spawned after an image leaked online, which appeared to show Payne being carried by three hotel workers back to his room, allegedly mere minutes before he fell.