Mike Lynch’s former colleague and fellow defendant in his US legal battle has died having being hit by a car on Saturday.
Stephen Chamberlain was critically injured just two days before Mr Lynch’s yacht sank off the coast of Sicily, leaving the entrepreneur missing along with his daughter and four others, a person familiar with the matter has claimed, reported by MailOnline.
Mr Chamberlain was placed on life support after he was struck by the vehicle in Cambridgeshire on Saturday morning.
His lawyer, Gary Lincenberg, has now confirmed his death.
He said in a statement: “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.”
Both Mr Chamberlain and Mr Lycnh stood trial in the US after they were accused of inflating the value of their business – Autonomy.
The company was sold for £8.3billion to US company Hewlett-Packard. Both men were eventually acquitted of any wrongdoing.
Cambridgeshire Police are appealing for witnesses following a collision between a pedestrian and car in Newmarket Road in Stretham.
They said a man in his 50s had been taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The search for Mr Lynch and the other missing people who were aboard the yacht is ongoing.
Divers are at the scene searching the wreck. The body of the yacht’s chef was found earlier on Monday.
In a recent interview, Mr Lynch spoke of how he feared death if he was sent to prison because of his lung condition.
He told The Times: “If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of my life as I have known it in any sense.
“It’s bizarre, but now you have a second life – the question is, what do you want to do with it?”
A spokesperson for Sicily’s civil protection agency has told the BBC that the missing people “must be there [in the boat].”
Francesco Venuto added: “We’ve been searching all day with helicopters and boats, we’ve found nothing. That wouldn’t make sense, in these conditions we should have found something by now.
“We’ve been searching all day with helicopters and boats, we’ve found nothing. That wouldn’t make sense, in this conditions we should have found something by now.”