Mike Lynch 'had planned to investigate Lucy Letby's trial before yacht tragedy' | UK news

Technology magnate Mike Lynch, one of the seven fatalities in the Bayesian yacht tragedy, planned to investigate the trial of Lucy Letby, according to his friend, the MP.

Conservative politician David Davis said Lynch wanted to set up “a British equivalent of the Innocent Project”, a charity in the US that works to rehabilitate people they believe have been victims of miscarriages of justice.

The 59-year-old, whose body was recovered from the wreckage in Sicily on Thursday, was particularly interested in the Letby case.

Last year, former neonatal nurse Letby was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of seven more.

In an article in the Times, Davis wrote: “Mike was a world-class expert in probability theory and immediately saw through the statistical weaknesses on which the case against Letby was based.”

The MP for Goole and Pocklington wanted to get involved in Lynch's new organisation and said one of her first projects would be to focus on the Letby trial.

The two were supposed to meet on Thursday (August 22) to discuss the plans.

“But on Monday, just as I was about to text him to confirm lunch, the devastating news came that his superyacht had sunk in stormy weather near Palermo, Italy,” he explained.

In June this year, Mr Lynch was acquitted of fraud charges he faces in the US over the $11 billion (£8.6 billion) sale of his software company to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

He was accused of inflating the value of his company, Autonomy, before selling it, but was found not guilty by a jury in San Francisco.

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

Mr Davis said: “Mike's tragic death is a stark reminder of the human cost of legal systems that, while designed to uphold justice, can themselves become instruments of great injustice.”

He described Mr Lynch's death as a “terrible personal tragedy” for his family and friends, but also a “great loss” for society as a whole.

The technology mogul founded Autonomy in 1996, a software used by organizations to analyze huge amounts of data.

The company quickly found success and was soon included in the FTSE 100 list of top UK-based companies.

After the acquittal, Mr. Davis had lunch with his friend to celebrate the victory.

He said Mr Lynch was talking about the “Peter questions” – the questions you would ask if Peter asked you at the gates of heaven, “How well have you lived your life?”

His plan was to spend the rest of his life finding a good answer to that question, Davis explained, and the relief project is part of that.

The £15 Bayesian superyacht sank near Porticello at around 5am local time on Monday after being hit by a storm.

The body of Canadian-Antiguan citizen Recaldo Thomas, who worked as a cook on the yacht, was recovered from the scene of the accident the same day.

The bodies of Mr Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International Bank CEO Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo were later recovered from the rubble.

Shortly after the ship sank, 15 people were rescued from a life raft, including Lynch's wife Angela Bacares (57).

Yesterday, an Italian prosecutor announced that an investigation into manslaughter had been launched.

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