Bristol UWE student who murdered housemate jailed for life
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Student who murdered uni housemate jailed for life
Image source:
Family photo
Image caption:
Jamie Collins (pictured) was ambushed and killed after returning home from university
By
Clara Bullock
and
Matty Edwards,
Bristol
Published
21 October 2026, 12:07 BST
Updated Just now
A student has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years for murdering his university housemate after lying in wait and stabbing him 30 times.
Zack Coughlan, 23, dressed in black and wore a mask to ambush Jamie Collins, 21, in the garden of their home near Bristol on 8 April.
Image source: Avon and Somerset Police
Image caption: Coughlan initially tried to blame masked attackers for his housemate's murder
Both men were final-year University of the West of England (UWE) students.
During sentencing, Judge Justice Linden told Coughlan:
"Collins was an idealist who took an interest in the problems of the world and society. It comes with great shock that anyone could do what you chose to do to him."
He added:
"I'm sure you were planning to kill Collins and had been for some time."
Coughlan had denied murder and a trial was under way at Bristol Crown Court but he changed his plea to guilty on Tuesday.
Image source: Family photo
Image caption: UWE described Jamie Collins as a "valued member" of the robotics community, a "natural engineer" who was only weeks away from finishing his degree
Collins' step mother, Lisa Jane Collins, wrote a statement read out in court:
"It has affected our family in a deep, lasting and profound way. From now on, we will always be the couple whose boy got murdered."
Lisa added that police came to their house early in the morning after the attack, to inform them of their son's death.
"We had the horror of waking up his siblings to tell them their brother Jamie had been killed even though we had very little information."
After the attack, Coughlan left his housemate to die in the alleyway behind the house they shared before cycling away on the victim's bike.