Liam Payne's sister Nicola reveals tragic way she learnt of her brother's death

Liam Payne's older sister Nicola has shared an emotional tribute following the singer's tragic death last week.

In a post shared to Instagram on Monday, Nicola explained how she found out about her brother's death via a news alert that popped up on her phone.

Liam, who rocketed to fame as one fifth of boy band One Direction, tragically died on 16 October after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Breaking her silence, Nicola in part 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 it to be untrue. I have spent days hoping that it was a mistake and somebody has got it wrong."

She continued: "You were truly too good for this earth, you are an angel who lived to make people smile and be happy. You have always shown kindness to everyone you met and it shows with just how many people have confirmed what we always knew!"

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Elsewhere, Nicola criticised how Liam was "judged", writing: "Unfortunately, this cruel world is always too quick to judge someone from a five-second clip, they then think it entitles them to be able to speak like they know you. We knew you, and we loved you."

She finished by adding: "I hope that you finally found some peace up there and that you always continue to look after us all as you have done in life. We will make sure Bear knows about his daddy and how much you loved him. We promise this. See you soon, Liam. Love you xx."

Her post included several family photos. One showed the sibling trio beaming from ear to ear, another showed Liam bonding with Nicola's daughter, Ffion, and a final black-and-white image showed Liam posing with his two sisters and his parents Geoff and Karen.

Nicola's poignant message echoed her sister Ruth's earlier tribute in which she similarly acknowledged the treatment Liam received as a public figure. In a post shared to Instagram last week, she wrote: "My brain is struggling to catch up with what's happening and I don't understand where you've gone.

"What I love most about you is your ability to make me laugh, I never chuckle as much as I do when I'm with you with anyone else.

"I’m always in awe of your talent, it should be illegal to be so talented and just have the ability to not only be good at things but be bloody great at everything you attempt, without even knowing you're absolutely smashing it each time.

"I don't feel this world was good enough or kind enough to you, and quite often over the last few years, you've really had to overcome all that was being aimed at you."

Also paying tribute to Liam in the wake of his death were his former One Direction bandmates, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and his former partner Cheryl with whom he shared seven-year-old son Bear.