Mike Lynch Co-Defendant Dies In Car Accident

Stephen Chamberlain, the former vice president of finance of Autonomy who was co-defendent in a US fraud trial alongside former chief Mike Lynch, has died after being struck by a car in Cambridgeshire.

Chamberlain was killed after being hit by a vehicle while out running on Saturday, his lawyer Gary Lincenberg said.

The incident occurred on Saturday, about 48 hours before Lynch and five others went missing off the coast of Sicily when his yacht sank after being struck by a freak waterspout, or seaborne tornado, in the early hours of Monday morning.

Both men had faced legal threats from Hewlett-Packard for more than a decade over the tech giant’s $11 billion (£8bn) acquisition of Autonomy, before they were extradited to the US and finally acquitted by a San Francisco court in June.

Car crash

“Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running,” Linceberg 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.”

After leaving Autonomy in 2012 Chamberlain worked as chief operating officer for computer security firm Darktrace and volunteered as finance director for football club Cambridge United, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Reuters earlier reported Chamberlain had been critically injured in the car accident and placed on life support.

Cambridge Police did not name Chamberlain but were appealing for witnesses after a collision between a pedestrian and a vehicle in Newmarket Road in Stretham.

A blue Vauxhall Corsa was travelling between Stretham and Wicken on the A1123 when the accident took place at about 10:10 a.m. on Saturday, after which a man in his 50s was taken to hospital with serious injuries, officers said.

The driver of the vehicle, a 49-year-old woman from Haddenham, remained at the scene and was assisting officers with their inquiries.

Fraud acquittal

Chamberlain and Lynch faced the same fraud charges for allegedly trying to inflate the company’s revenues beginning in 2009, partly in order to lure a buyer.

Following an 11-week trial the jury acquitted Lynch and Chamberlain on all 15 felony counts that could have resulted in a 20 year prison sentence if found guilty.

“I am elated with today’s verdict and grateful to the jury for their attention to the facts over the last 10 weeks,” Lynch said at the time.

“I am looking forward to returning to the UK and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field.”

Lynch had been hosting an event for staff aboard the yacht Bayesian when it sank, according to British media reports.

Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares and 14 other people, including a 1-year-old girl, were rescued aboard a life raft after the yacht sank around 4:30 a.m. on Monday.

Yacht disaster

One body recovered from the area was identified as the vessel’s cook by Italian media.

Six others were unaccounted for and were believed to be inside the hull, the Italian fire rescue service said.

Eight of the 15 people rescued and taken ashore at Porticello, where the Bayesian had been moored, were hospitalised and the others were taken to a hotel.

One of the survivors, Charlotte Emsley, said she momentarily lost hold of her 1-year-old daughter Sofia in the water, but managed to hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated.

The girl’s father, James Emsley, also survived, Italian authorities said.

Eyewitnesses said the yacht heeled, or tipped onto its side, in the extreme weather until it began taking on water.

The Bayesian “went flat on the water, and then down”, Karsten Borner, the captain of a nearby vessel, told journalists.