Liam Payne's Funeral Plan Scandal: Singer's Manager Roger Nores 'Not Welcome' As Drug-Death Mystery Deepens
The funeral for Liam Payne has been set to take place in the One Direction singer's hometown of Wolverhampton this week.
RadarOnline.com can reveal that the late singer's pal Roger Nores "will not be attending" the service due to the ongoing police investigation following the 31-year-old's death.
According to The Sun, Nores "is not welcome" at the funeral ceremony.
An insider said: "Liam's family wants his funeral to go off without a hitch and right now opinions are strained when it comes to Roger.
"It's true he and Liam had a bond but he's never been popular when it comes to Liam's wider circle."
The source added: "There is a difference in the narrative, Roger would say he stepped back from working with Liam – others would say he was pushed. Many people didn't even know Liam and Roger had reconnected until his fateful trip to Argentina last month.
"Due to the ongoing investigation in Argentina, he's not welcome at this week's service."
Nores was with Payne, 31, and his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, multiple times during their trip to Argentina.
He was also at the Casa Sur hotel in Buenos Aires just minutes before Payne tragically plunged from the third-floor balcony.
Earlier this month, Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office announced in a press release that three people are facing charges in connection to Payne's tragic death.
The suspects were not named, but one of the suspects “is the person who accompanied the artist on a daily basis during his stay in the city of Buenos Aires".
That suspect was charged with abandonment of a person followed by death and supply and facilitation of narcotics.
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Following the bombshell announcement, Nores denied allegations of abandonment but confirmed he spoke to police.
In a statement, he said: "I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel 3 times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened. There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left.
"I could have never imagined something like this would happen. I've given my statement to the prosecutor on October 17 as a witness and I haven't spoken to any police officer or prosecutor ever since".
He was not named as one of the suspects.
Nores added: "'I wasn't Liam's manager he was just my very dear friend and please refer to the email I sent to Liam and his team on August 23.
"I'm really heartbroken with this tragedy, and I've been missing my friend every day."
The post-mortem examination revealed that Payne's cause of death was attributed to extreme head injuries, including a cranial fracture.
A toxicology report confirmed the former One Direction singer had a mix of drugs in his system, including 'pink cocaine' — a combination of ketamine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy — as well as benzodiazepine, cocaine, and crack in his bloodstream.
Liam's former One Direction bandmates — Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson — are rumored to be attending the funeral.
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