Zack Coughlan, 23, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years for the murder of his housemate, robotics student Jamie Collins, 21, in what a judge described as a “carefully planned and cold-blooded execution”. The killing took place in the garden of their home in Filton, South Gloucestershire, on April 8.
Attack and Sentencing
Bristol Crown Court heard that Coughlan, dressed entirely in black and wearing a ski mask and gloves, ambushed Mr Collins as he opened the garden gate shortly before 6pm. Mr Collins was stabbed more than 30 times before Coughlan left him dying in an alleyway and cycled away to dispose of his bloodstained clothes and the murder weapon.
Coughlan initially denied murder but changed his plea to guilty before the jury retired to consider its verdict, after the trial judge ruled that a defence of manslaughter by loss of control was not applicable. Mr Justice Linden jailed Coughlan for life and ordered him to serve a minimum of 28 years.
Victim Impact
The judge told the defendant that Mr Collins was a fellow student in the final year of his robotics degree and had been described by friends as exceptionally kind and considerate. He said: “Mr Collins was an idealist who took an interest in the problems of the world and of society. His friends were unanimous in describing him as an exceptionally kind and considerate person. It is clear that they felt privileged to have known him and heartbroken to have lost him.”
Mr Justice Linden also addressed the impact on Mr Collins’ family, saying: “The emotional scars that you have inflicted on them will never be fully healed and sadly nothing this court can say or do will turn the clock back.” The judge agreed with the description of the killing given by prosecutor Adam Vaitilingam KC, who had called it a “carefully planned and cold-blooded execution”.
Planning and Aftermath
The court heard Coughlan had plotted the murder for weeks, buying black clothing and shoes on March 27 and making internet searches on his phone, including “what corpse looks like”. On the day of the killing, he went into a nearby alleyway and changed into the dark clothing before lying in wait for more than 20 minutes. The attack was captured on CCTV installed at the property by Coughlan.
After the attack, Coughlan used Mr Collins’ bicycle to flee before abandoning it at a nearby retail park. He then walked to a duck pond and threw his bloodstained clothes, packed into carrier bags weighted down with bricks, into the water. He returned to the three-bedroom house he owned in Cleve Road at around 9pm, put a pizza in the oven and played online games with friends. It was not until shortly after 2am that he called 999, claiming he had just discovered Mr Collins’ body in the rear garden.
Mr Justice Linden said: “Your callous behaviour continued as you then lied to the police in a calculating, cynical and manipulating way.” A post-mortem examination found Mr Collins, from Swansea, South Wales, had suffered more than 30 stab wounds to his front, back and neck.
Defence and Family Response
The judge told Coughlan: “We will never know precisely why you killed Mr Collins.” He rejected claims made by Coughlan during the trial that Mr Collins had expressed violent views about wealthy people and threatened to kill him. The judge added: “The evidence is that he was a gentle soul. What came across from your evidence as a whole was that over time, you had become deeply upset by the realisation that Mr Collins disliked you.”
Coughlan had claimed he killed his housemate after feeling threatened by his left-wing, anti-capitalist and anti-landlord views, and becoming angry about being charged rent. However, in a victim personal statement read to the court, Mr Collins’ family described Coughlan’s evidence as “excruciating” and “full of lies”. They said his claims were an attempt to “discredit and defame Jamie’s excellent character”.
His stepmother, Lisa Collins, said she believed Coughlan had felt threatened by Mr Collins because of his own insecurities and because friends were increasingly gravitating towards the younger student. She added that the loss of control in the case was Coughlan’s “control over his peer group and perceived popularity”. “Zack Coughlan knew that Jamie was a better person than him,” she said. “Zack Coughlan was jealous of Jamie’s integrity and strength.”
Mr Collins had been close to completing his degree at UWE Bristol, with just two pieces of coursework left before he planned to return to Swansea at the end of April. His family attended his graduation ceremony, where he was awarded a 2:1 degree based on the results he had achieved.
Dan Pawson-Pounds KC, defending Coughlan, said his client had no previous convictions and that friends had been “utterly shocked” by his actions. The barrister added: “He was someone who was well thought of within the peer group.” He also referred to Coughlan’s difficult upbringing, which the defendant said included physical violence from his father and his mother frequently working away in her job at Apple.
