Tragic tycoon Mike Lynch’s co-defendant killed in car accident

Stephen Chamberlain, who faced identical charges of fraud and conspiracy as Mike Lynch, has died after being hit by a car in the UK on the same day his one-time boss went missing off Sicily.

Stephen Chamberlain was Autonomy’s former vice-president of finance.

The co-defendant in the US fraud trial of Mike Lynch, the businessman missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday, has died after being hit by a car.

Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy’s former vice-president of finance, died after being “fatally struck” by a car while out running, his lawyer Gary Lincenberg said in a statement.

The confirmation of Chamberlain’s death came on the same day that the yacht, the Bayesian, sank in a freak tornado. One person has been confirmed dead and six people are missing, including Lynch.

Chamberlain faced the same charges of fraud and conspiracy as Lynch, the founder of Autonomy, for allegedly scheming to inflate the value of the company, then Britain’s largest software firm, before it was sold to Hewlett-Packard. Both men were acquitted of all 15 charges by a jury in San Francisco in June.

British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch is missing after the super yacht sank. Picture: X/Twitter.

Chamberlain was hit by a car in Cambridgeshire on Saturday morning and had been placed on life support, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier on Monday.

Lincenberg said: “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, and we deeply miss him. He fought successfully to clear his good name, which lives on through his wonderful family.”

The yacht Bayesian sank when its mast was toppled in a freak tornado. Picture: X/Twitter

Cambridgeshire Police said that there had been a collision between a pedestrian and a car on the A1123 Newmarket Road in Stretham at about 10.10am on Saturday.

The force said the pedestrian, who they only identified as a man in his fifties from Longstanton, was taken to hospital with serious injuriese. It has not updated its statement since or confirmed the identity of the pedestrian.

The driver of a blue Vauxhall Corsa, a 49-year-old woman from Haddenham, remained at the scene and was assisting with inquiries.

Following his acquittal, Chamberlain said on LinkedIn that he was “looking to help growing companies achieve their goals”. After leaving Automony in 2012, he had worked as the chief financial officer then chief operating officer for Darktrace and volunteered as a finance director for Cambridge United football club.

The Times