Liam Payne's cause of death may be determined by UK inquest - prolonging family pain

Liam Payne's eldest sister discovered her brother had fallen to his death after receiving an alert 'pop up on my phone'.

Nicola Payne revealed in a heartbreaking tribute to her brother how she was alerted to the tragedy that happened as he stayed in a Buenos Aires hotel. She told how, following his death, she now hoped he had 'finally found peace up there'.

The 36-year-old said she 'went cold' when she saw the news and had spent the last few days hoping it was a mistake. Alongside her tribute, Nicola posted a series of family pictures and one of Liam on stage with One Direction.

She wrote: "I have posted about Liam and his achievements over the years with a proud sister alert, and that has stood then, now and always. When I saw the news pop up on my phone that you had left us I went cold, I wanted so much for this to be untrue. I have spent days hoping that it was a mistake and somebody has got it wrong."

Nicole then went on to made a moving tribute to her brother. She added: "You were truly too good for this earth. You are an angel who just lived for making people smile and happy. You have always shown kindness to everyone you met and it shows with just how many people have confirmed what we always knew."

She then told how the family didn't have many photographs together because they didn't want him to feel he was simply around fans but posted one of the singer with her daughter, Ffion. "We don't have many pictures together as we never really did that as a family, we never wanted you to feel like you were in a room of fans, but we were your biggest fans always and forever," she said.

"Your talent alone puts you miles ahead, but also you being you. I have been looking back at the messages from the night I had Ffion, how excited you were to meet her, the jokes we all shared and the laughter that you knew we all. You led your life with a motto of why bother doing something unless you are brilliant at it, and Liam you were certainly brilliant at everything you did.

"Unfortunately, this cruel world is always too quick to judge someone from a few five-second clips; they then think it entitles them to be able to speak as they know you. We knew you, and we loved you."

Nicole, whose younger sister Ruth Gibbin paid tribute over the weekend, then signed off: "I hope you have finally found peace up there and that you'll continue to look after us all as you have done in life."

Liam's grief-stricken girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, has also emerged in public for the first time since his death - just days after revealing she was at a 'complete loss'. The 25-year-old stepped out as yesterday it emerged the singer's cause of death may be subjected to an official inquest in the UK - prolonging his family's pain.

The influencer was seen on Sunday with friends to pick up bags of dog food from a store near the couple's Palm Beach mansion. The usually glamourous influencer was seen make-up-free in grey jogging bottoms and a white T-shirt just days after breaking her silence.

"Thank you for all of the kind words and love that has been sent my way. I have been at a complete loss," Cassidy wrote on Instagram. "Nothing about the past few days has felt real. I ask and pray that you'll give me the grace and space to navigate this in private," she continued.

"Liam, my angel. You are everything. I want you to know I loved you unconditionally and completely. I will continue to love you for the rest of my life. I love you, Liam."

Cassidy had been staying with her boyfriend at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires but returned to Florida alone just two days before the tragedy unfolded last Wednesday. He was reportedly forced to stay in Argentina longer while he renewed his US visa.

The circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear, with initial reports suggesting the fall was accidental. Currently, officials in the Argentine capital are concluding their post-mortem examination, taking samples from Liam's body for histopathological, biochemical and toxicological testing.

Lead investigator, Prosecutor Marcelo Roma, has demanded the exams after a quantity of drugs were discovered in the singer’s room. The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office advises that such tests in Argentina can 'take between 40 days and 12 months to become available, depending on the mortuary's resources'.

However, Liam's body is to be released shortly to the family to allow for his repatriation, which is likely to lead to a hearing in the UK. "Given the circumstances of Liam's death, there is a real possibility his family could be subjected to an inquest back home," said an insider.

"This is in no way designed to undermine the Argentina probe. But by law, when a British citizen dies abroad, the coroner is duty-bound to investigate. It is highly likely it will happen, and if so, it could be well into next year before the inquest is heard."

Once someone who died abroad is back in the UK, coroners are required to investigate deaths that are 'sudden, violent, or unexplained', including accidents, suicides, or cases where foul play is suspected. Liam's passing would fall into this category, and an inquest could be mandatory unless he is cremated or buried on foreign soil.

The coroner's role is to determine how, when, and where the person died. While Argentine authorities are currently handling Liam's death, once his body is returned to the UK, His Majesty's Coroner will have the legal authority to open an inquest.

This would come even if a preliminary investigation had already been conducted in Buenos Aires. A UK coroner's inquest is a judicial inquiry that involves hearing witness testimony, reviewing evidence such as medical reports, and, in some cases, conducting a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death.

The aim is not to establish criminal liability but to ascertain the facts surrounding a death. The singer had been in Buenos Aires on a private trip to see his bandmate Niall Horan in concert.

The gig tied in with his visit to Argentina to renew his US visa after it was delayed when officials reportedly demanded he be tested for drugs after he admitted on his application to taking them previously. The paperwork was eventually cleared, but he was forced to extend his stay and see his girlfriend fly back to their home in Florida.

Two days after she left, witnesses say Liam became increasingly erratic and appeared to be under the influence of booze and drugs. He contacted two sex workers from a local website who visited him in his suite, but after they left, the singer plunged from his balcony to his death. Argentine officials are still trying to determine what caused his death and currently have it listed as 'inconclusive'.

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