A 23-year-old student in the UK has been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 28 years, for murdering his university housemate after lying in wait and stabbing him 30 times.
According to a report by the BBC, Zack Coughlan attacked Jamie Collins, 21, in an alleyway near the garden of their shared home in Filton on April 8. He then left Collins’ body at the scene for around eight hours before contacting police, as per details presented during the trial at Bristol Crown Court.
Coughlan had initially denied the murder charge while admitting that he killed Collins. He claimed he feared his housemate would kill him and told jurors he was “barely able to think” when he lay in wait for Collins to return from university. However, he changed his plea to guilty on Tuesday after a legal ruling by the trial judge.
What did the judge say?
During sentencing, Judge Justice Linden told Coughlan: “Collins was an idealist who took an interest in the problems of the world and society. It comes with great shock that anyone could do what you chose to do to him. I’m sure you were planning to kill Collins and had been for some time. Your guilty plea came at a point in the trial when your conviction was inevitable,” as per the BBC.
During the trial, Coughlan claimed he was fearful of Collins, saying he had threatened to kill him and therefore he had “no choice” but to wait for his housemate to return from university and stab him repeatedly.
However, Judge Linden said, “I do not accept your evidence that he did or said anything that made you believe he would be violent towards you in any way. Your evidence about these conversations was at odds with other evidence about Collins, that he was a gentle soul who was averse to conflict and confrontation.”
‘Cold-blooded execution’
Both men were final-year robotics students at the University of the West of England (UWE) and lived together in a house owned by Coughlan. Following the attack, Coughlan reportedly left Collins in the alleyway and cycled away on his victim’s bike to dispose of evidence, the court heard.
He abandoned the bicycle at a nearby retail park, bought a change of clothes and discarded his bloodstained clothing in a pond, placing the items in carrier bags weighed down with bricks. After returning home, Coughlan ate pizza and played video games. He claimed he “had to disconnect” from what had happened and did not call emergency services for another five hours, as per the BBC.
The attack was captured on CCTV footage that Coughlan had installed himself. The cameras also recorded him staging the discovery of Collins’ body. Jurors were told he later rewatched this footage five times.
Detective Chief Inspector Lucy Edgeworth, from the major crime investigation team, said the evidence suggested the killing was a “pre-planned, cold-blooded execution”. She said Coughlan had claimed that Collins’ political views had become more extreme and that his housemate had spoken about killing him. However, the motive for the murder remained unclear.
“We know there was a dispute about rent. We know that they held different political views. But none of those things make any sense to why somebody would carry out such a horrific crime,” Edgeworth said.
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She also highlighted inconsistencies in Coughlan’s account, including his claim that he had injured his hands while climbing a tree after the attack. She added the defendant’s blood had been found on Collins’ recovered bike because he had likely injured himself in the “ferocious and horrendous” attack.
“The retrieval of the clothing from the pond, again, all forensically linked Zach to that crime. So it was a really interesting and complex forensic picture,” she said.
Speaking outside the court, Edgeworth further described the murder as “meticulously planned” and said the defendant had prioritised protecting himself rather than seeking medical assistance for Collins. “The brutal nature of what he did cannot be underestimated,” she said.
“He feigned shock and the lies continued, both to police and friends in the hours and days after what happened,” she added.
