Family tribute to Mike Lynch’s co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain as he died after being hit by car days before yacht sank

THE FAMILY of missing Brit tycoon Mike Lynch’s ex-colleague and co-defendant have paid tribute to him after he died in a car crash.

They described him as a “much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend” after he died in Cambridgeshire on Sunday.

Chamberlain was flown to hospital following the incident in Stretham on Saturday, but it’s understood his life support was switched off the next day.

He worked as vice president of finance at Lynch’s former company Autonomy and faced the same US charges of fraud and conspiracy as his former boss.

They were accused of scheming to inflate the company’s value before it was sold but both were acquitted of all charges by a jury in San Francisco in June.

Lynch, 59, is one of six people missing after a superyacht he was on with his family capsized and sank on Monday off the coast of Siciliy.

He was celebrating with his family, friends and lawyers onboard the £14million Bayesian when it capsized around 5am on Monday.

A source told The Telegraph yesterday: “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.”

Tech tycoon Lynch, dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates”, was one of 22 people sailing onboard a £166,000 a week vessel, in the port of Porticello, Sicily when Chamberlain died.

He sold his tech firm Autonomy Corporation for $11b to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

After leaving Autonomy in 2012, Chamberlain had worked for cybersecurity firm Darktrace and volunteered as a finance director for football club Cambridge United.