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Liam Payne's Friend Claims Singer's Drug Use Put Him 'Close To Death' Multiple Times Before Fatal Fall

Home / News / Liam Payne's Friend Claims Singer's Drug Use Put Him 'Close To Death' Multiple Times Before Fatal Fall

By Favour Adegoke on December 20, 2024 at 2:15 PM EST

Liam Payne's friend, Roger Nores, has alleged that the late singer's struggle with drug addiction nearly killed him several times in the past.

The friend, who is accused of abandoning Payne before his fatal fall, claimed that the "Strip That Down" singer was in and out of rehab centers for his addictions and came "close to death" multiple times.

Roger Nores shifted blame to the CasaSur Hotel in which Liam Payne died, questioning why they had to move him from the lobby to his room, where he faced more danger of doing something irrational.

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Liam Payne Came 'Close To Death' Several Times Before His Fall

Liam Payne at Capital's Jingle Bell Ball at The O2 Arena in London, UK - 07 Dec 2019
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According to Rolling Stone, Nores, on Thursday, submitted a 91-page written response to an "indagatoria" called by the investigating judge where he claimed that Payne had struggled with drug addiction for the past two years and came "close to death" several times within that time frame.

In his bid to defend himself against the accusation, Nores alleged that the former One Direction member's addiction led to stints in rehab centers, as well as hospitalizations and two resuscitations.

"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," Nores wrote in Spanish in the document. "I do not consider that I deserve the accusation that is being leveled at me."

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In the filing, he described a particular instance that happened in September 2023 where Payne "suffered from a severe intoxication that left him close to death," leading to his hospitalization for three days in Milan.

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

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Liam Payne's Drug Use Allegedly Continued To Worsen

Liam Payne
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Nores went on to state in his filing that the "Teardrops" singer's battle with addiction worsened in the latter part of 2023, adding that he had to be hospitalized twice in London, where he was 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," the statement contends.

The beginning of 2024 reportedly didn't come with a new turn of events for Payne.

His addictions still had a chokehold on him, leading the singer to enter a rehab facility in Spain back in March.

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The Singer Reportedly Left Rehab Without Finishing His Treatment

Liam Payne at Vogue party for LFW at the Londoner hotel
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Payne allegedly didn't complete his treatment before leaving the center and went back to using drugs, even suffering an alleged overdose in April and was resuscitated again.

"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 claimed in his filing.

He added that the singer's situation made his father attempt to admit him to a psychiatric treatment center, but that Payne opposed the idea.

Nores went further to explain that Payne seemingly refrained from using drugs for most of the summer.

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Liam Payne And His Friend Had An 'Argument' Before His Death

Liam Payne singing on stage
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Things  changed in early August when he discouraged Payne from returning to Manchester, England, because he suspected he'd started doing drugs again, claiming the situation led to them having a "strong argument."

Nores raised the alarm and emailed Payne's dad, Geoff, saying that he was "really concerned for his well-being" in the United Kingdom and that they should bring in "professional doctors to check on his health regularly," just like he did while Payne was in the US.

"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," Nores wrote in an email to Payne's dad, per Rolling Stone.

In an earlier filing on Wednesday, Nores insisted that he wasn't Payne's doctor, lawyer, or representative and that when he left the singer in his hotel room the day he died, he was "greeting fans" and was seemingly doing fine.

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The Singer's Friend Blames CasaSur Palermo Hotel Staff

Liam Payne at Jingle Ball in New York
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Nores also slammed the CasaSur Palermo hotel for being negligent in the way they handled the situation of things leading up to Payne's death.

A 911 call transcript between the front desk head and emergency services has since surfaced, suggesting that Payne was acting irrationally in the hotel lobby as he was seemingly intoxicated with drugs.

"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," Nores wrote.

Payne died on October 16 after falling from the third-floor balcony of the multistory hotel he was staying at following a brief stint in Argentina with his girlfriend.

A toxicology report released last month showed that his system contained alcohol, "pink cocaine," and a prescribed antidepressant at the time of his death.

Apart from Nores, four other people who have been charged in the case also responded to the questioning as investigators now decide whether or not each defendant should be further prosecuted.

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