Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
A university student has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 28 years for the murder of his housemate, whom he ambushed and stabbed multiple times. Zack Coughlan, aged 23, attacked Jamie Collins, 21, in the garden of their shared home near Bristol on April 8. After the assault, Coughlan left Collins gravely injured in a nearby alleyway and delayed contacting the police for eight hours. Originally pleading not guilty, Coughlan later changed his plea to guilty during the trial at Bristol Crown Court.
Jamie Collins was in his final year at the University of the West of England (UWE) and lived with Coughlan in Filton. He had only two pieces of coursework left before completing his degree and was preparing to return home to Swansea, where a job was waiting for him in engineering. Collins’ step-mother, Lisa Jane Collins, described the profound impact of his death on the family, saying, “From now on, we will always be the couple whose boy got murdered.” She recounted the painful moment police informed the family of Jamie’s death and the subsequent distress experienced by his siblings. Lisa also revealed the toll the tragedy took on Jamie’s father, Rob, whose business collapsed due to the stress of the situation.
During the trial, Coughlan claimed he had feared Collins and alleged that his housemate had threatened to kill him. He justified his actions by stating he felt he “had no choice” but to stab Jamie repeatedly after waiting for him to get home. However, Judge Justice Linden dismissed these claims, describing Collins as a non-confrontational individual and stating, “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.” The judge remarked on the shocking nature of the crime and noted that Coughlan’s guilty plea came only when conviction was inevitable.
Following the attack, Coughlan left the scene on Collins’ bike and returned to the house, where he engaged in leisure activities such as eating pizza and playing video games, reportedly needing to “disconnect” from what had happened. CCTV footage of the attack, which Coughlan reportedly watched several times, captured the entire incident. Detective Chief Inspector Lucy Edgeworth, leading the investigation, described the murder as a “pre-planned, cold-blooded execution.” She acknowledged claims of political and financial disputes between the two men but emphasized that these factors did not explain the brutal nature of the killing
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.