Runner was 'getting life back' before fatal crash

Mr Chamberlain died two months after he and tech tycoon Mike Lynch were cleared of fraud charges in the US

An associate of the tech billionaire Mike Lynch had been "enjoying getting his life back" when he was fatally struck by a car while out on a run, an inquest heard.

Stephen Chamberlain died in hospital three days after a collision involving a Vauxhall car on the A1123 at Stretham in Cambridgeshire on 17 August 2024.

The 52-year-old had previously faced fraud charges in the US alongside Mr Lynch, who died after his superyacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily on 19 August.

In a statement read by lawyer Sally Hobson, Mr Chamberlain's widow Karen said he had taken up running after the fraud charge, and it had "helped him mentally stay calm and focus on what was ahead".

Mr Chamberlain and Mr Lynch were found not guilty of the charge in June last year following a trial at a federal court in San Francisco.

A Strava map showed Mr Chamberlain was about six miles (10km) into his morning run when he was struck by a car

Mrs Chamberlain said her husband would "meticulously spend hours planning his routes" and competed in ultra-distance races.

He was "safety conscious", she said, and he would wear one earbud but leave the other ear free.

She told the inquest at New Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald, that he had been home from the US for two months and was "making up for lost time, enjoying getting his life back".

'A matter of seconds'

The inquest heard the collision happened as Mr Chamberlain was crossing a road between two parts of a bridleway and he was struck by the car as it crested a humpback bridge.

In a statement summarised by area coroner Caroline Jones, the driver involved said that as she "approached the bridge she proceeded down the incline" and a man "suddenly emerged into the road".

She said she saw Mr Chamberlain "looking to his left away from her and only looked to his right just before the collision".

She said she had "braked hard and steered to the nearside", but "he was too close" and the front offside of the vehicle collided with him.

She said she had been driving within the 60mph (97km/h) speed limit, had been on her way to a shop in Newmarket, Suffolk, and had "no time pressure", the coroner said.

A witness statement said Mr Chamberlain was thrown "approximately 15ft" in the air and "the entire incident must have been a matter of seconds".

The coroner said the female driver of the car should not be named at the hearing.

Mr Chamberlain died in hospital after the crash on the A1123 at Stretham in Cambridgeshire

Police forensic collision investigator PC Ian Masters said it was "not an ideal crossing point by any stretch of the imagination".

Asked by the coroner if it was his view that it was not an avoidable collision, Mr Masters replied: "Yes, that's correct".

The coroner concluded that Mr Chamberlain died as the result of a road traffic collision.

She shared the concerns of the family that the humpback bridge was an "irredeemable barrier" to visibility for pedestrians and other road users.

She said she would write to Cambridgeshire County Council as the highways authority for further information before deciding whether a report to help prevent future deaths was necessary.

Mr Chamberlain's daughter Ella said in a statement to the inquest that her father was the "perfect role model in every way".

His son Teddy said in a statement: "He was the glue of our family, always ready with an answer.

"The mental and physical strength he showed was beyond anything I could imagine."

He added that he was the "greatest dad I could ever have asked for and I'm so proud to be his son".