Liam Payne’s death: Manslaughter charges dropped against friend, hotel employees

The manslaughter charges filed against a friend of One Direction singer Liam Payne and two hotel employees have been dropped.

Roger Nores and the two employees had been charged in connection to the death of the singer, who plunged from a balcony at a Buenos Aires, Argentina hotel in October.

His cause of death was listed as “polytrauma” from the injuries he had, as well as internal and external bleeding, Sky News reported.

Payne had trace amounts of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he died, according to toxicology results.

The Argentina Court of Appeals decided to drop the manslaughter charge against Nores and employees, identified as hotel operator Gilda Martin and head of reception Esteban Grassi, Sky News reported.

They had faced five years in prison if convicted.

The court said Nores did not contribute to Payne “obtaining and consuming alcohol” and could not have prevented Payne’s death. Nores, who was prohibited from leaving Argentina pending the legal process, said he could finally leave the country and that he was “happy I’m now going to be able to travel to the U.K. and say goodbye to my friend,” according to Rolling Stone.

Nores is suing Payne’s father, accusing him of defamation saying that Geoff Payne gave false and misleading information to prosecutors during the investigation into the singer’s death, USA Today reported.

The charges against two other hotel employees still stand. They are accused of supplying Payne with drugs.

Braian Paiz allegedly gave Payne cocaine twice on Oct. 14, while Ezequiel Pereyra gave him cocaine on Oct. 15 and 16, the BBC reported in December, at the time of the charges.

Supplying drugs in the country brings a maximum 15-year sentence, according to Sky News.

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