Three charged over Liam Payne's death includes 'person close to singer'

The three charged in connection with Liam Payne’s death after a fall from a hotel balcony includes a "person close to the singer". The Wolverhampton singer died three weeks ago, in a fall from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires in Argentina.

The ITV The X Factor star's death has been investigated by South American police, with three people charged on Thursday (November 7). Those charged are someone who was close to Payne, a hotel employee and a suspected drug dealer, Argentina's public prosecutor announced in a statement.

The three have now been arrested and charged with "abandonment of a person followed by death, supply and facilitation of narcotics," confirmed a statement by the office of prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea.

READ MORE State pensioners urged to switch off 'six items' in their kitchen

The statement said: "Based on the evidence gathered and after analysing the various bodies of proceedings and numerous documentary annexes and the background of the case, prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea formally charged three people, requesting their questioning and arrest in a 180-page ruling presented last Friday to Judge Bruniard."

The statement added: "Liam Payne was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall". It added one of the accused "accompanied the artist on a daily basis" during his stay in Argentina.

The prosecutor's office said they carried out a "forensic extraction" of Liam's phone, sifting through his call logs, messages and social media accounts. They also ruled out "self-harm", according to a forensic psychiatric report.

The statement, translated into English, said: "Although other medical background information from the victim's clinical history must still be analysed, the phenomenon of the lack of defence or self-preservation reflex in the fall, together with other relevant data from his consumption, allow us to conclude that Liam Payne was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall."