STUDENT ACCUSED OF STABBING HOUSEMATE 30 TIMES IN BRISTOL

A university student lay in wait for his housemate before stabbing him 30 times, a murder trial at Bristol Crown Court has heard. Zack Coughlan, 23, is accused of ambushing Jamie Collins, 21, dressed in black and wearing a mask and gloves, in the garden of their shared home in Filton, South Gloucestershire. Prosecutor Adam Vaitilingam KC told the court the attack happened shortly before 6pm on 8 April, after Collins returned from the University of the West of England campus on his bike. Both men were final-year robotics students and lived in a house owned by Coughlan. Vaitilingam said Coughlan then cycled away on the bike, left it at a nearby retail park, bought a change of clothes and disposed of his bloodstained clothing in a pond.

The court heard Coughlan returned to the house at about 9pm, put a pizza in the oven and took part in online gaming with friends before calling 999 roughly eight hours after the attack, claiming to have found Collins's body. Vaitilingam said Coughlan told police the back gate had been open and that he discovered the body after going outside, and that he was told by call handlers to perform CPR, which he said he was doing. The attack was recorded on CCTV at the property, which Coughlan showed to officers who initially treated him as a witness rather than a suspect. He had injuries to his hands, which he attributed to a fall while climbing trees.

According to the prosecution, Coughlan was gradually treated as a suspect as evidence accumulated against him. He has accepted killing Collins but denies murder, with Vaitilingam saying he claims to have "lost his self-control" during the attack. The court was told the pair had previously disagreed over rent payments, including whether Coughlan was charging too much, but that the dispute appeared to have been settled. Vaitilingam said no friends were aware of any significant problem between the two men. The trial continues.