Liam Payne's dad sued for defamation by late singer's friend
The friend of Liam Payne is suing the late singer's father for defamation.
PEOPLE Magazine reported that Roger Nores filed the lawsuit in Florida, claiming Geoff Payne made sworn statements about him that were “false, contained material omissions, and many parts were not based on personal knowledge."
Nores said the sworn statements shared in the media caused him "injury" and damages worth over $10 million (PhP585 million).
Nores also alleged that Geoff's "sworn declarations" to Argentine officials, though made in a different country, were “accessed by persons in the Palm Beach County/Florida” area and caused harm in those locations.
Nores said his friendship with Liam was misrepresented, noting he "did not have a legal duty to Liam."
He insisted that they were just “mutual dear friends."
Nores said that net financial proceeds of the judicial proceedings will go to Payne’s son.
Nores told Rolling Stone that Geoff must backtrack on his sworn statement, as he "very well knows I wasn’t Liam’s nurse or caretaker."
"Liam, who I miss every day, was my dear friend and an independent, brilliant, respectful free man who did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted," he said.
Nores said he had sent a defamation retraction letter to Geoff's lawyers but they didn't oblige. The latter claimed Nores was “seeking to interfere with a police investigation by pressuring [Geoff] to change his evidence," even as they would “bring his actions to the attention of the Argentinian authorities.”
Geoff, through his lawyers, said he denies "in the strongest possible terms" defaming or causing harm to Nores.
He added that Nores' intent to donate proceeds from the lawsuit to Liam's son was “pointless."
After Liam's death, Geoff told an Argentine prosecutor that he was only able to speak with Liam's girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, and Nores.
But Nores claimed that Geoff was able to speak with Liam via his phone, laptop, or bodyguard.
At the time, Geoff also said Nores was part of a “care group” meant to “keep Liam busy” since he “could not be left alone in the vulnerable situation in which he was."
Nores denied it, saying he “never agreed to be the caretaker of Liam" as they were just friends.
Payne, who rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction, fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires in October. He was 31.
His room was found destroyed, with broken objects and furniture, along with alcohol and suspected drugs.
According to a Jan. 8 report by BBC, Liam's official cause of death was polytrauma.
The National Institutes of Health said polytrauma is a term used for "severely injured patients" involved in the "incidence of the traumatic shock and/or hemorrhagic hypotensis" as well as a "serious endangering of one or more vital functions of the organism." The NIH added that "at least one out of two or more injuries or the sum total of all injuries endangers the life of the injured person with polytrauma."
Five people have been indicted in Argentina over Liam's death. Three of them were charged with manslaughter, while the other two were charged with supplying him with illegal drugs.
