Mike Lynch co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain died of head injury from car crash in Cambridgeshire

A business colleague of the late tech tycoon Mike Lynch was killed when he was hit head-on by a car as he ran over a hump-backed bridge, an inquest opening has heard.

Stephen Chamberlain, 52, died on 20 August, three days after the crash in Stretham, Cambridgeshire.

He had been a co-defendant of Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch in a fraud trial in the US in which both men were cleared. Mr Lynch died alongside his daughter and five others when his yacht Bayesian sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily on 19 August.

At the opening of an inquest at Shire Hall in Cambridge on Thursday, presided over by coroner Caroline Jones, the court was told Mr Chamberlain's preliminary cause of death was traumatic head injury.

Police told the coroner that a Vauxhall Corsa had been travelling on the A1123 between Stretham and Wicken.

The car crested a hump-back bridge was confronted by a runner coming the other way. The runner, Mr Chamberlain, was hit by the driver side of the vehicle.

He was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where he died at about 3.50am on 20 August.

The court was told a police investigation was continuing therefore no date was set for a full inquest.

Cambridgeshire Police previously issued an appeal for witnesses to the collision, which happened at about 10.10am.

Police said the driver of the car, a 49-year-old woman from Haddenham, remained at the scene and was assisting with inquiries.

Following Mr Chamberlain's death, his family released a statement in which they paid tribute to him as "an amazing individual whose only goal in life was to help others in any way possible".

Mr Chamberlain had faced the same fraud and conspiracy charges as his former boss for allegedly inflating Autonomy’s value before its sale.

Mr Lynch had negotiated the company's $11bn (£8.64bn) sale to Hewlett-Packard (HP), which earned him more than $800m windfall.

The deal triggered a 13-year legal battle. In June, both Mr Chamberlain and Mr Lynch were cleared of charges that they had orchestrated fraud and conspiracy ahead of the sale, which became a costly burden for HP.

If convicted, they could have faced more than 20 years in US prison.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know