Liam Payne was ‘most down to earth and helpful guy’, says neighbour

A neighbour to Liam Payne’s location successful Buckinghamshire has said helium was “the astir down to world and adjuvant guy”, pursuing his death.

Thomas Evans, 17, who lives successful St Turners Wood Drive, Chalfont St Giles, told the PA quality bureau that the erstwhile One Direction vocalist erstwhile came retired of his location astatine 3am 1 nighttime to travel and cheque connected Thomas and his siblings aft they had an intruder connected their property.

The incidental took spot astir six months ago, Mr Evans said. He was staying astatine his location with his older brother, his older sister, and a friend, erstwhile idiosyncratic tried to interruption into their property.

He said: “At astir fractional past 2am, we saw a shadiness done the model and realised determination was an intruder connected our driveway. There was rather a commotion.

“Liam conscionable heard immoderate kids shouting and, bless him, helium came over. He didn’t person to.”

Mr Evans chuckled arsenic helium recalled seeing Mr Payne travel retired done the gates astatine Foxwood and locomotion implicit to his location “wearing the astir bizarre apparel to beryllium wearing astatine 3am”.

He said: “He had a afloat connected apical hat, an overcoat, and these checkered trousers. He told us, ‘I heard immoderate shouting and screaming, are you okay?’ We called the constabulary and helium stayed with america until they arrived. We had tiny talk, conscionable to calm america down.”

There has ne'er been immoderate negativity from him, ever

Liam Payne's neighbour Thomas Evans

Mr Evans added that a person of Liam Payne who stayed with him adjacent flew his drone implicit Mr Evans’ onshore from Foxwood to “see if helium could drawback the intruder”, who had tally away.

He said: “It was each sorted successful the end.

“But that’s conscionable 1 illustration of him being a truly bully guy.”

Mr Evans said Mr Payne moved into Foxwood astir a twelvemonth and a fractional agone “to beryllium person to Cheryl Cole and his kid”.

He added: “I privation to enactment immoderate affirmative things astir him retired there. There has ne'er been immoderate negativity from him, ever.

“He has kept his backstage life. People respected that. He has been perfectly nary trouble.”

The assemblage pupil said that helium learnt of Mr Payne’s decease successful the aboriginal hours connected Thursday erstwhile his sister rang him.

He said: “She called maine astatine 1am and said, ‘Liam Payne is dead’. I was like, what?

“I didn’t judge it. It inactive doesn’t consciousness real.”

Mr Evans added that his mother, who lives with him astatine the code successful Turners Wood Drive, is “distraught” astatine the quality of her celebrated neighbour’s death.

“She feels rather blameworthy that determination was idiosyncratic surviving successful the location close adjacent to her and whitethorn person been struggling – and she didn’t help.”