Student who stabbed housemate 30 times jailed for life for murder

Summary

Zack Coughlan, 23, a university student, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years for murdering his housemate, Jamie Collins, 21. Coughlan had initially denied murder but later admitted it. He lay in wait for Collins to return home, then ambushed him in the garden of the home they shared in Filton, South Gloucestershire, dressed in black and wearing a mask and gloves. Collins was stabbed 30 times. BBC News described Collins as a "sensitive and caring young man".

Timeline

1. BBC News

   20 Oct 2026, 14:35 UTCSource ↗

   BBC News reported that a student who stabbed his housemate 30 times had admitted murder, and described victim Jamie Collins as a "sensitive and caring young man".

2. BBC News

   21 Oct 2026, 12:00 UTCSource ↗

   BBC News reported that the student who murdered his university housemate, Jamie Collins, 21, had been jailed for life after Collins was ambushed and killed in the garden of their shared home.

3. The Guardian

   21 Oct 2026, 12:50 UTCSource ↗

   The Guardian reported that Zack Coughlan, 23, who lay in wait for his housemate Jamie Collins, 21, to return home and stabbed him 30 times, had been jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years, and that he had initially denied murder.