Mike Lynch’s co-defendant dies after being hit by car two days before yacht sank off coast of Sicily

A man who stood trial alongside Mike Lynch, the British tech tycoon missing after the superyacht sinking in Palermo, died after a car crash.

Stephen Chamberlain was put on life support after he was critically injured in the collision in Cambridgeshire over the weekend, but has since died of his injuries, his lawyer confirmed on Monday (August 18).

Mr Chamberlain was reportedly hit by a car in Saturday morning's incident and rushed to hospital. The former vice president of finance for software firm Autonomy had stood trial in the US after being accused of the same fraud and conspiracy charges as the company's former CEO, British tech tycoon Mike Lynch.

Mr Lynch, 59, once dubbed 'Britain's Bill Gates', was accused of scheming to inflate the value of Autonomy after it was sold in 2012 to Hewlett Packard for $11billion (£8.64billion). Both men were ultimately cleared of all 15 charges by a jury in San Francisco in June this year following a decade-long legal saga, reports the Mirror.^[2]

Mr Lynch is one of six people who are currently missing after a yacht, the Bayesian, capsized off the coast of Palermo, Sicily, in the early hours of Monday morning when it was struck by a tornado. His wife, Angela Bacares, was rescued by the coastguard.

In a new statement on Monday evening, Chamberlain's lawyer Gary Lincenberg told MailOnline: "Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running.

"He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity. We deeply miss him. Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family."

Cambridgeshire Police issued a statement following the crash saying: "Police are appealing for witnesses after a collision between a pedestrian [and] a car on the A1123 Newmarket Road in Stretham. The blue Vauxhall Corsa was travelling between Stretham and Wicken on the A1123 when the collision with the pedestrian happened at about 10.10am on Saturday (August 17)."

"The man, who was in his 50s and from Longstanton, was taken to hospital with serious injuries where he remains. The driver of the car, a 49-year-old woman from Haddenham, remained at the scene and is assisting with enquiries."

Some 22 people were on board at the time, including staff and tourists. Palermo's coastguard said on Monday it had rescued 15 people, while efforts were ongoing to find the remaining missing people. The body of one person, confirmed to be the boat's chef, was also recovered from the water.

A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: "We are in contact with the local authorities following an incident in Sicily, and stand ready to provide consular support to British nationals affected."

References

1. ^{^} Who is Mike Lynch? The British man missing after luxury yacht sank off Sicily coast (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Mirror. (www.mirror.co.uk)