Zack Coughlan, 23, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 28 years for the murder of his housemate Jamie Collins, 21, following a dispute over rent. The sentence means Coughlan will be 51 before the parole board can consider his release.
Attack and Sentencing
Coughlan, dressed in all black and wearing a mask and gloves, ambushed Mr Collins in the garden of their shared home in Filton, South Gloucestershire, shortly before 6pm on April 8. Mr Collins had just returned from the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). The attack was captured on CCTV, showing Coughlan stabbing his victim 30 times.
After the attack, Coughlan left Mr Collins to die in the alleyway at the back of the house and cycled away on the victim's own bike. He dumped the bicycle at a nearby retail park, bought a change of clothes, and threw his bloodstained clothing in a pond in a bag weighed with stones.
Aftermath and Investigation
Coughlan returned to the £300,000 house on Cleve Road, which he owned, ate a pizza, and played online games with friends, telling them he "had to disconnect" from the killing. He also went for a walk and took a further bike ride. He was captured on his own CCTV camera going into the garden with a torch at 2.06am, and called 999 a minute later to report his friend had been stabbed.
Initially treated as a witness, Coughlan provided officers with the CCTV footage of the attack, which he watched five times, Bristol Crown Court heard. He had denied the charge, but changed his plea to guilty for one count of murder yesterday.
Background and Defence
Prosecutor Adam Vaitilingam KC told the jury: "This was a carefully planned and cold-blooded execution." Coughlan's partial defence of manslaughter by reason of loss of control could not be left to the jury, Mr Justice Linden ruled.
Coughlan told jurors he feared Mr Collins was going to kill him after the two final-year robotics students disagreed about rent and politics. The house was bought by Coughlan after his mother, who worked for Apple, lent him £300,000. The disputes concerned whether Coughlan was charging too much rent. Charlie Latimer, the third housemate, said he and Mr Collins had been paying £650 per month, later reduced to £500, then only contributing towards bills.
Mr Latimer described Mr Collins as "standoffish", saying his housemate thought "it was a bit of an insult that we had to pay so much as friends to live in a friend's house". The relationship worsened despite the rent charge being removed in January. On April 7, Coughlan asked Mr Collins to leave the house, telling the court his housemate "had a kitchen knife in his hand and he told me he wanted to kill me".
A day later, Coughlan asked Mr Collins if he meant what he said, to which he said yes. Coughlan testified he saw "no other way to protect" himself but "never wanted to hurt anyone". The court heard Mr Collins was critical of large multi-national corporations, wealthy individuals, and landlords.
Coughlan told the jury he experienced violence from his father while growing up, with his mother often away working. He was a "high achiever" and had been expecting to graduate with a first-class degree this year. He is half Danish and grew up in Cork, Ireland, before moving to Bristol to study robotics at age 19.
Family Statement
In a statement released after Mr Collins' death, his family said: "Our Jamie was a bright, kind, gentle and unassuming young man with his whole life ahead of him. He was looking forward to finishing his uni journey and planning to come home to us in Swansea in just a few weeks' time."
"Our family has been sickened that Zack Coughlan pretended to help Jamie when in fact he is responsible for killing him. We even felt sympathy for Zack at the start, and asked police if he was okay, because of how he had initially deceived everyone. [...] Jamie was a sensitive and caring young man. His passion for equality stood out to everyone who knew him. His unapologetic inclusivity will be his legacy for all of us."
