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.
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. 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. 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.”
Zack Coughlan attacked Jamie Collins, 21, in an alleyway near the garden of their shared home in Filton on April 8, according to a report by the BBC.
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. During sentencing, Judge Justice Linden told Coughlan: “Collins was an idealist who took an interest in the problems of the world and society. 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.
However, he changed his plea to guilty on Tuesday after a legal ruling by the trial judge.
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.
However, the motive for the murder remained unclear.
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.
