UK coroner seeks full reports

A coroner is looking to obtain full reports and eyewitness statements before a final inquest into the death of former One Direction star Liam Payne, a pre-hearing review heard.

There are “continuing investigations in Argentina into the circumstances surrounding Liam’s death,” senior coroner Crispin Butler told Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court on Thursday.

The 31-year-old singer, who grew up in Bushbury in Wolverhampton, died in October 2024 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.

The inquest was adjourned until a further pre-inquest review on 7 May, 2026.

A post-mortem examination report said Payne died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage” after falling from a third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires.

A court in Argentina dropped charges against three out of the five people who had been suspects in connection with Payne’s death.

The coroner in Buckinghamshire had been forwarded initial documentation relating to the autopsy conducted in Argentina and an initial police scene report, Mr Butler confirmed.

It will be formally translated before the coroner liaises with the singer’s family ahead of an inquest.

The coroner also wants to obtain full reports, including eyewitness statements and other relevant evidence, to address the statutory questions at a final inquest.

“Namely who the deceased was, a final medical cause of death, when, where and how he came by his death,” stated Mr Butler.