A university student has been sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 28 years, for murdering his housemate in a planned and calculated knife attack. 

Zack Coughlan, 23, from Filton, was convicted of the murder of Jamie Collins, 21, on 20 October and was sentenced today.  

Coughlan had admitted killing Jamie but denied murder on the grounds of having lost self-control. Seven days into his trial at Bristol Crown Court for Jamie’s murder, Coughlan changed his plea to guilty. 

Coughlan and Jamie shared a house in Filton, near Bristol. On 8 April, Coughlan waited in an alleyway behind the property, dressed in black, wearing a mask, and armed with a large knife.  

As Jamie returned home from university, Coughlan attacked him, stabbing him approximately 30 times. He then fled the scene on Jamie's bicycle. 

Jennie Hopson-Hill for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Coughlan initially denied the killing, and constructed an elaborate account to cover up what he had done.  

“He claimed he had lost control after things that Jamie had said to him in the months before the attack. The evidence told a very different story – that Coughlan had carried out a carefully planned and cold-blooded execution. 

“The Crown Prosecution Service worked closely with the police investigative team to build our case and ensure that Coughlan was held responsible for the full extent of his offending. 

"There is no evidence Jamie did anything to provoke this violence, and sadly only Coughlan will know why he chose to murder Jamie that day. 

“Jamie's family and friends have shown extraordinary courage throughout this investigation and trial, sitting through Coughlan's lies and seeing footage that no one should ever have to witness. We hope today's sentence gives them some sense that justice has been done, and our thoughts remain with them as they continue to live with Jamie’s loss." 

Building the case 

Coughlan told police he had spent the afternoon climbing trees and injured himself from a fall.  
He said he had bought a change of clothes, cooked a meal and played online games with friends, before finding Jamie's body in the garden and calling the police. 

The Crown Prosecution Service worked closely with Avon and Somerset Police to build a case that exposed this account as false.  

Investigators recovered Jamie's abandoned bicycle, which had Coughlan's blood on it. Phone location data for Coughlan matched CCTV footage of the attacker fleeing the scene.  

Police also recovered clothing discarded by Coughlan in a pond near the University of the West of England campus and DNA analysis confirmed this was the clothing worn during the attack. 

Faced with this evidence, Coughlan admitted he had killed Jamie, but initially denied murder, claiming he had lost control after things Jamie had said to him in the preceding months. 

Rather than accept this explanation of a random attack, the CPS was able to prove that Coughlan had in fact waited outside the address for twenty minutes and dressed to avoid being identified. 

Afterwards, he dumped his clothes in a pond, invented a story about climbing trees to explain cuts to his hands, played online games with friends, and lied to police.