Lawyers for Liam Payne’s family were in court in Argentina Tuesday — and a source told Page Six that they could bring private criminal action against anyone who contributed to his death.
Page Six has seen documentation that shows music industry veteran lawyer Richard Bray, acting on behalf of the family, has handed over his legal interests to a local law firm in Buenos Aires.
This means that Payne’s loved ones would now be a named plaintiff in any criminal case moving forward.
The 1D star died at age 31 after falling off the balcony of his hotel room.
Prosecutors have already charged two hotel staffers with allegedly providing him drugs, and one friend of Payne’s is a person of interest for failing to intervene and come to his help.
However, the investigation has taken an even darker turn in the wake of photos that were released as part of a police report.
They show what appears to be staff at the hotel manhandling Payne and shutting him in his hotel room. Though the timestamps on the images are unconfirmed, it appears this occurred soon before his death.
Nicolás Durrieu, a criminal lawyer based in Buenos Aires, told Page Six that if this is indeed what happened, hotel staff could face charges of “abandonment of a person.” In this case, it could likely be considered “aggravated” because a person died, with a maximum sentence of 15 years.
Charges of “manslaughter” carry a maximum of five years of prison in Argentina, while anyone convicted of drug facilitation or distribution could face 12 years of imprisonment.
“The legal system also allows the family to bring their own private criminal prosecution and their own investigation, ” said Durrieu. “Victims are very empowered and independent from the prosecutor. Usually the family joins with the prosecutor, but not always.”
TMZ reported Monday that security footage and the police report show that Payne was trying to escape from his hotel room when he fell. Hotel staff knew he was threatening to use the balcony as a means to escape, but still left him alone, according to the outlet.
Shocking photos show Payne, who was disruptive in the hotel lobby and under the influence, splayed out as three men carry him to his room minutes before he fell to his death.
However, Payne was apparently conscious and holding his head upright.
Photos, believed to be taken from surveillance footage, show that when the hotel employees got Liam to his room corridor, he struggled with them and attempted to walk back in the elevator.
A source told Page Six: “It appears clear to me that Liam was trying to get back downstairs, he did not want to go in his room.”
Nonetheless, hotel staff used a master key to enter the room and placed Liam inside, according to the police report seen by Page Six.
Once he was in the room, staff called 911 and said they feared he might use the balcony and accidentally hurt himself.
“We have a guest who is [allegedly] high and drunk; and when he is conscious, he is destroying his room and we need you to send someone, please. We need you to send someone urgently because I don’t know if his life is in danger,” the man, identified only as a hotel manager named Estaban, told the dispatcher.
“He is in a room that has a balcony and we are scared he might be endangering his life.”
Payne previously spoke of how he hated being locked up in hotel rooms, a tactic 1D management resorted to at the height of the band’s fame
“When we were in the band, the best way to secure us — because of how big it got — was just lock us in our rooms. And of course, what’s in the room? Mini bar,” Payne said during a podcast interview in 2021, revealing how he turned to alcohol to cope. “So at a certain point, I thought, ‘Well I’m gonna have a party for one.’”
A source said that back in September, Payne — who was laid to rest last week in the UK— had tried to escape his Florida rental home by using the balcony to escape after his bodyguard forced him inside a room fearing he was on a drugs binge.
We have reached out to a rep for the Payne family.
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