Mike Lynch’s co-defendant in his US fraud trial has died following a road accident that left him critically injured on Saturday, shortly before the tycoon went missing in the sinking of a superyacht.
Stephen Chamberlain was hit by a car in Cambridgeshire, two days before Mr Lynch was listed as missing after a tornado sank his superyacht off the coast of Sicily.
One person has died and six others, including four British nationals, are missing after the boat, called “Bayesian”, sank at around 5am in front of Porticello in the province of Palermo.
As the search for survivors continued on Monday night, it emerged that Mr Chamberlain had been involved in a road accident two days before the yacht disaster.
A source told The Telegraph: “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.”