Stephen Chamberlain, Lynch's former co-defendant in the fraud trial, also dies in a car accident

A few hours after the sinking of British tycoon Michael Lynch 's yacht Bayesan off the coast of Palermo, it was reported that Stephen Chamberlain, Mike Lynch's co-defendant in the US fraud trial over the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard, also died after being seriously injured in a car accident on Saturday.

According to the Reuters news agency, Chamberlain, a former Autonomy financial vice-president together with CEO Lynch, had been hit by a car in Cambridgeshire on Saturday morning and was hospitalised still alive. The news of his death was given by Chamberlain's lawyer, Gary Lincenberg, who described him as a 'dear client and friend'.

Chamberlain faced the same fraud and conspiracy charges as his former boss Linch for allegedly planning to inflate the value of Autonomy, then Britain's largest software company, before it was sold. Both men were acquitted of all 15 charges by a jury in San Francisco in June.

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

"He was a courageous man with unprecedented integrity and is deeply missed," said Lincenberg. "He fought successfully to clear his good name, which lives on through his wonderful family." Cambridgeshire police have appealed for witnesses to the road traffic collision.