The co-defendant of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch in a US fraud trial died in a car crash just days before the businessman went missing after the sinking of his yacht off the coast of Sicily.

Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy's former vice president of finance, who worked alongside chief executive Mr Lynch, was killed after being hit by a vehicle while out running on Saturday, his lawyer, Gary Lincenberg said.

Less than 48 hours later, Mr Lynch was among six tourists who went missing after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily early on Monday.

Mr Chamberlain faced the same charges of fraud and conspiracy as his former boss for allegedly scheming to inflate the company’s value before it was sold.

Mr Lynch negotiated an 11 billion US dollar (£8.64 billion) sale of Autonomy to Silicon Valley pioneer Hewlett Packard (HP), which generated a more than 800 million US dollar windfall for him.

But the sale also kicked off a 13-year legal saga. Both the men were acquitted of all 15 charges by a jury in San Francisco in June. They faced more than 20 years in US prison if convicted of the fraud and conspiracy allegations.

Cambridgeshire Police did not name Mr Chamberlain, but were appealing for witnesses after a collision between a pedestrian and a car had taken place in Newmarket Road in Stretham.

Officers said a blue Vauxhall Corsa was travelling between Stretham and Wicken on the A1123 when the collision took place at about 10.10am on Saturday.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mike-lynch-stephen-chamberlain-car-accident-yacht-trial-b2598779.html