(BBC News) The former co-defendant of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch – who is missing off the Italian coast – has died after being hit by a car.
Stephen Chamberlain, 52, was Lynch’s co-defendant in his US fraud trial in which both men were acquitted following the $11-billion sale of the software giant Autonomy.
Chamberlain died after being struck by the vehicle while out running in Cambridgeshire on Saturday.
Lynch and his daughter are missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday.
Chamberlain died in hospital after the crash on the A1123 at Stretham in Cambridgeshire at about 10:10 BST on Saturday.
The driver of the car, a 49-year-old woman from Haddenham, remained at the scene and is assisting with enquiries.
Gary Lincenberg, Chamberlain’s lawyer, described his client as a “courageous man”.
“Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running,” he said.
“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.”
Chamberlain was the former vice-president of finance at Autonomy.
Lynch similarly had connections to Cambridgeshire after studying Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge.
He was raised near Chelmsford in Essex and more recently has been living in the Loudham Hall estate in Suffolk.
Searches for those missing from the yacht off the coast of Sicily resumed on Tuesday.
Six tourists – including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter – remain missing from the yacht named Bayesian.
It was hit during intense storms in the early hours of Monday.
Morgan Stanley International Bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and Clifford Chance lawyer, Chris Morvillo are among those missing.
