The cause of death of Liam Payne has been confirmed by a doctor at a new UK inquest as “polytrauma”.
The former One Direction star died on October 16 last year, after he fell from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel. The Argentinian prosecutor’s office shared at the time that the cause of death was due to multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding.
Now, at a hearing at Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court, it was confirmed by Dr. Roberto Victor Cohen that the death was the result of “polytrauma”, which refers to multiple traumatic injuries sustained by a body’s organ systems (via BBC).
The inquest into Payne’s death has been told that it may still take “some time” to fully ascertain how the 31-year-old died, with the hearing now adjourned until later in 2025.
Senior Coroner Crispin Butler said: “Whilst there are ongoing investigations in Argentina into the circumstances of Liam’s death, over which I have no legal jurisdiction, it is anticipated that procuring the relevant information to address particularly how Liam came by his death may take some time through the formal channel of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.”
Five people have been charged in Argentina over the death: Payne’s friend Roger Nores, CasaSur Palermo hotel manager Gilda Martin, reception head Esteban Grassi, Ezequiel Pereyra and Braian Paiz.
Wrongful death charges were made against Nores, Martin and Grassi, with the judge noting: “I do not believe that [Nores, Martin, and Grassi] planned and wanted Payne’s death. They did not plan the result but created a legally disapproved risk.”
The judge in Argentina, Laura Bruniard, also declared that the singer jumped off his hotel balcony in an attempt to escape the building while in a drugged state.
“Payne’s consciousness was altered and a balcony was in the room. The proper thing to do was to leave him in a safe place, and with company, until a doctor arrived,” she wrote, adding that the hotel employees who had taken him back to his room “did not act maliciously” but were “imprudent” in their actions.
She continued: “I maintain that [Payne] tried to leave from the balcony of the place where he was left because the forensic experts noted that he did not lose his balance. This is how the fall occurred.”
An earlier report in November from the National Crime and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 14 revealed that Payne’s toxicology results showed that cocaine, alcohol and antidepressants were all in his system at the time of his death.