Liam Payne’s family are ready to take legal action over his death

Lawyers for Liam Payne the family appeared in court in Argentina on Tuesday, and a source told Page Six that they may launch private criminal proceedings against anyone involved his death.

Page Six has seen documentation showing that veteran music industry lawyer Richard Bray, acting on behalf of the family, has transferred his legal interests to a local law firm in Buenos Aires.

This means Payne’s loved ones will now be lead plaintiffs in any future criminal case.

This is the first mention of Payne’s family in any part of the ongoing investigation into the singer’s Oct. 16 death at the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires – and it appears shocking photos from his last moments have been revealed.

A source familiar with the family said they were “100% certain” that Payne’s parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, as well as his siblings would want to bring him to justice.

The 1D star died at the age of 31 after falling from the balcony of his hotel room.

Prosecutors have already done this charged two hotel employees with allegedly supplying him with drugs, and one of Payne’s friends is a person of interest because he did not intervene and come to his aid.

But the investigation took an even darker turn after photos that were part of the police report were released.

They show a person who appears to be a hotel employee kidnapping Payne and locking him in a hotel room. Although the time stamps on the photos are unconfirmed, it appears to have occurred shortly before his death.

Nicolás Durrieu, a Buenos Aires-based criminal lawyer, told Page Six that if this actually happened, the hotel staff could face charges of “abandonment of a person.” In this case, the case can probably be considered “aggravated” because the person has died and the maximum sentence is 15 years.

Charges of “unintentional manslaughter” carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison in Argentina, while anyone convicted of facilitating or distributing drugs could face a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.

“The legal system also allows the family to initiate its own private criminal proceedings and its own investigation,” Durrieu said. “Victims have a lot of power and are independent of the prosecutor. Usually the family joins the prosecutor, but not always.”

TMZ said Monday that surveillance footage and a police report show Payne was trying to escape from his hotel room when he fell. Hotel employees knew he was threatening to use the balcony to escape, but they left him alone anyway, the website reports.

Shocking photos show Payne, who was disruptive in a hotel lobby and was under the influence, lying on his stomach as three men carried him to his room minutes before he collapsed to his death.

However, Payne was apparently conscious and kept his head straight.

Photos, believed to be from surveillance footage, show that when hotel staff took Liam into the hallway of his room, he fought them and tried to take the elevator back. A source told Page Six, “It seems clear to me that Liam was trying to come back downstairs, he didn’t want to go to his room.”

Nevertheless, according to a police report obtained by Page Six, hotel staff used the master key to enter the room and put Liam inside.

Once inside the room, employees called 911 and said they were concerned he might use the balcony and accidentally hurt himself.

“We have a guy who is (allegedly) high and drunk; and when he is conscious, he destroys his room and we need to send someone, please. We need to send someone urgently because I don’t know if his life is in danger,” the man, identified only as a hotel manager named Estaban, told the dispatcher.

“He is in a room with a balcony and we are afraid that he may be endangering his life.”

Payne has previously spoken out about how he hated locking himself in hotel rooms – a tactic 1D management resorted to at the height of the band’s fame

“When we were in the band, the best way to keep us safe – because of the size of the band – was to just lock us in our rooms. And of course, what’s in the room? Minibar,” Payne said during a 2021 podcast interview, revealing how he turned to alcohol to cope. “So at one point I thought, ‘Well, I’ll throw a party for one.’

The source said that back in September, Payne – who was buried last week in the UK – tried to escape from a rented house in Florida using the balcony after a security guard pushed him into the room fearing he was under the influence of drugs.

We have contacted a representative of the Payne family.