ENTERTAINMENT NEWS: ONE DIRECTION STAR LIAM PAYNE TOOK COCAINE, OTHERS BEFORE DEATH - PROSECUTORS

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Argentine authorities said on Thursday that One Direction member Liam Payne used cocaine, alcohol, and a prescription antidepressant prior to his death last month after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.

Three persons were accused of giving him narcotics, and one of them was also accused of leaving someone in a vulnerable situation, the prosecutor’s office noted.

“The results of the toxicological studies, which have been communicated to his family, revealed that, in the moments prior to his death and over a period covering at least his last 72 hours, Payne had traces of polydrug use of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his body,” the prosecutors said.

After jumping from the balcony of his third-floor apartment at the CasaSur Hotel in the Argentine capital, Payne was discovered dead on October 16.

He died as a result of “multiple traumas” and “internal and external haemorrhaging” from the fall, according to an autopsy.

One Direction, one of the world’s highest-grossing live acts in the 2010s, took an indefinite break in 2016.

Payne later saw some success on his own, but lately his career has stalled.

A worldwide outpouring of sorrow and condolences from relatives, former bandmates, fans, and others followed his passing at the age of 31.

Prosecutors said one of the three people charged in the case had accompanied him on a daily basis during his stay in Buenos Aires and was charged with abandoning a person who later died as well as supplying him with narcotics.

The second suspect is a hotel employee accused of twice supplying Payne with cocaine while he was staying at the CasaSur. A third person is also accused of supplying him with the drug on October 14, two days before his death.

The prosecution ruled out self-harm and the “physical intervention of third parties” as the cause of Payne’s death, saying that the injuries he sustained were compatible with those caused by a fall.

The toxicological report was published a day after the singer’s father Geoff Payne repatriated his body to Britain aboard a flight from Buenos Aires to London.

Payne’s death has prompted a debate about whether the music industry has a duty of care for the mental health of stars who find fame at a young age.

The singer from Wolverhampton in central England had spoken publicly about struggles with substance abuse and the pressures of teenage stardom.

He first auditioned for the hugely popular television talent show “The X Factor” at the age of 14 but was unsuccessful.

Two years later he hit gold on the program, which teamed him up with Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik to form One Direction.

Over the next six years, the group enjoyed global fame and legions of screaming fans, selling more than 70 million copies of their five albums. They went on four world tours and won nearly 200 awards.

Payne is survived by a seven-year-old boy, Bear, with Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy.

“Payne was either not fully conscious or was in a state of markedly diminished or absent consciousness at the time of the fall,” the report said.

He was found dead after hotel staff called emergency services to report “a guest who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol, and destroying his room.”

AFP