Zack Coughlan has been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 28 years, after admitting the murder of his fellow robotics student and housemate, Jamie Collins, in Filton, near Bristol.

Accounts of the case agree that Collins, 21, was ambushed as he returned to the home he shared with Coughlan on 8 April. The court heard that Coughlan, 23, had dressed in black, worn a mask and gloves, and waited before stabbing Collins more than 30 times. Mr Justice Linden said Collins had been “caught totally unaware” and was “utterly defenceless.”¹

The prosecution and the judge presented the killing as premeditated. Coughlan had bought dark clothing, made online searches including “what corpse looks like,” and later disposed of clothing and the weapon before reporting the death hours later, according to the court account. The judge endorsed the prosecution’s description of a “carefully planned and cold-blooded execution.”²

Coughlan had initially denied murder, saying he feared Collins after disagreements over rent and politics, and alleging that Collins had threatened him with a knife. He told the jury he saw “no other way to protect” himself.³ The court did not accept a partial defence of loss of control, and Coughlan changed his plea to guilty before the jury retired.

That claim stood in sharp contrast to the assessment of the judge and Collins’s family. Linden described Collins as a “gentle soul” and said the court would never know precisely why he was killed.¹ His family said the death had affected them in a “deep, profound, and lasting way,” and condemned what they said was Coughlan’s pretence of helping after the attack.³

Collins was close to completing his degree at UWE Bristol. His family described him as kind and caring, with a commitment to equality that they said would remain part of his legacy.²