Student admits murdering housemate in masked knife attack

A 23-year-old student has admitted murdering his housemate after stabbing him more than 30 times in a masked ambush near their home in Bristol.

Zack Coughlan changed his plea to guilty at Bristol Crown Court. He will be sentenced on Wednesday for killing Jamie Collins, 21, on 8 April. [1]

Coughlan had initially denied murder but admitted killing Collins. During the trial, he said he feared Collins would kill him after a dispute over rent and told jurors he felt he “had no choice”. His defence argued he was scared and “barely able to think” when he waited for Collins to return from university and attacked him.

After the stabbing, Coughlan left Collins outside for eight hours before calling police. He cycled away on Collins’s bike to dispose of bloodstained clothing and other evidence, then returned home, ate pizza and played video games, the court heard. He later said he had needed to “disconnect”.

Det Ch Insp Lucy Edgeworth said the evidence suggested the killing was pre-planned, but that its motive was unclear. Coughlan had claimed Collins’s political views had become more extreme and that Collins had spoken about killing him. Edgeworth said the men had different political views and a rent dispute, but neither explained the murder.

Collins’s family described him as “gentle” and “kind”. He had been studying at the University of the West of England and was looking forward to finishing his degree and returning to Swansea, they said.