Mike Lynch’s co-defendant on life support after being hit by car as sea search continues overnight

A man who stood trial alongside Mike Lynch^[1], the Brit tech tycoon missing after the superyacht sinking in Palermo, in a US fraud case is on life support following a car crash.

Stephen Chamberlain is fighting for his life after he was critically injured in a collision^[2] in Cambridgeshire at the weekend. Mr Chamberlain was reportedly hit by a car in Saturday morning's incident and rushed to hospital.

It's understood he was put on life support on Sunday. Mr Chamberlain had stood trial in the US after being accused of the same fraud and conspiracy charges as his former boss, British tech tycoon Mike Lynch.^[3]

Mr Lynch, 59, once dubbed 'Britain's Bill Gates',^[5] was accused of scheming to inflate the value of software firm 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.

Cambridgeshire Police^[6] 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. Anyone with information or dashcam footage of the collision, or the moments before or after, should tell us about it^[7] through the force website using reference 160 of 17 August. Anyone without internet access should call 101 quoting the same reference."

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.

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. ^{^} Mike Lynch (www.mirror.co.uk)
2. ^{^} collision (www.mirror.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Mike Lynch. (www.mirror.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Palermo yacht sinking updates as 4 Brits missing including 'UK's Bill Gates' after tornado (www.mirror.co.uk)
5. ^{^} 'Britain's Bill Gates', (www.mirror.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Cambridgeshire Police (www.mirror.co.uk)
7. ^{^} tell us about it (gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com)