Waiter charged over Liam Payne death arrested in Argentina
Five people have been charged over the pop singer’s death
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Your support makes all the difference.A waiter charged over the death of pop star Liam Payne has been arrested, according to Argentinian media.
Braian Paiz, 24, was one of five people charged over the pop star’s death on Monday (30 December) and was ordered to appear in court.
Payne died aged 31 after falling from the third-floor balcony of his room at the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires on 16 October last year.
Paiz and a hotel employee, Ezequiel Pereyra, were charged with supplying drugs on two occasions, an offence that carries a sentence of up to 15 years.
In a TV interview with a local news channel, Paiz admitted to using drugs, including cocaine, with the singer, but insisted he did not supply Payne with the drugs or accept any money from him.
Sky News cites Argentinian media outlets who reported that Paiz was arrested at his home in Ingeniero Budge on Friday (3 January).
Reports also claimed that police raided the home of Pereyra, 21, but did not find him there.
Fernando Madeo Facente, the lawyer representing Paiz, previously told the BBC that he had advised his client not to hand himself in after the charges were made.
He argued that Paiz posed no flight risk and had in no way hindered the investigation, and that to hold him in pre-trial detention would therefore be unnecessary.
Among the other people charged was Argentinian businessman Rogelio Nores, known as “Roger”.
Nores has claimed to have left the CasaSur hotel 40 minutes before Payne’s death and has denied any involvement in the tragedy.
He is one of three charged with manslaughter, along with chief receptionist Esteban Grassi and hotel manager Gilda Martin.
According to local reports, they were not being held in custody but have been banned from leaving Argentina.
A statement from the judge and public prosecutor that detailed Payne’s final moments before his death said he had been “demanding” drugs and alcohol during his stay at the hotel.
Court documents said Payne was in the hotel lobby on 16 October in the hours before he died, “unable to stand” due to the “consumption of various substances”.
Martin is suspected of manslaughter for allegedly failing to stop Payne from being taken to his hotel room moments before his death. Given his state, the room’s balcony posed a “serious threat”, the court papers state, and the manager should have ensured that Payne was kept in a safe place until medical help arrived.
Grassi is also suspected of manslaughter for allegedly asking three people to “drag” Payne to his room instead of keeping him safe.
Nores is suspected of manslaughter for “failing to fulfil his duties of care, assistance and help” towards the singer, having “abandoned him to his luck knowing that he was incapable of fending for himself and knowing that [Payne] suffered from multiple addictions”.
If found guilty, the three could face sentences of between one and five years in prison.
Payne’s funeral was held in Amersham, Buckingham, in November and attended by his family, friends and former One Direction bandmates including Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan.