A man has pleaded guilty to the murder of a university student in Filton.
Zack Coughlan killed Jamie Collins – a 21-year-old student at the University of West of England who he shared a house with – on Wednesday 8 April 2026.
The 23-year-old had previously admitted to killing Jamie, but denied murder on the grounds of having lost self-control. Seven days into the trial, Coughlan pleaded guilty to murder.
Coughlan will be sentenced tomorrow (Wednesday 21 October).
Jamie’s family said his death has had a ‘deep, profound, and lasting’ impact on them.
The trial began at Bristol Crown Court on Monday 12 October and the jury was told that far from Coughlan momentarily losing control, this was in fact a ‘carefully planned, cold-blooded execution’.
CCTV footage secured during the police investigation showed that Zack went to great lengths to hide the fact he was Jamie’s killer, including dumping the clothes he was wearing in a pond and lying to detectives about his movements that day.
Copper theft
Four days before the murder, Coughlan had called 999 during the early hours of 4 April and reported to police that he had disturbed copper thieves in the alleyway that ran behind his home Cleve Road.
He said there were two men dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, with at least one of them having a knife. He told the call-handler he had taken a knife with him to the back gate as a precaution and described the offenders as ‘roadmen’.
The first officers arrived at the scene at 3.04am, approximately 18 minutes after Coughlan’s 999 call began. Police dogs were deployed in the area as part of the search efforts to locate the thieves, but no-one involved was located.
An officer updated Coughlan in person afterwards and provided him words of advice in case of any similar incidents in future, including not to take a knife himself as that would place him and others in greater danger.
‘Unsurvivable injuries’
Jamie and Coughlan were in their fourth and final year studying robotics at the University of the West England. The jury was told they had formed a friendship group during their studies with other students on the same course.
Coughlan owned the house where Jamie and a third person lived, and while there had been a dispute over the rent Coughlan charged a few months earlier, the court heard there was nothing particularly untoward about the relationship between the pair.
CCTV cameras at the property captured Jamie leaving the address on the day of the murder via the back gate on his bike. He travelled a short distance to UWE’s Frenchay campus, where he spent a couple of hours.
While Jamie was at the university, Coughlan was seen to leave his own house, in predominantly light clothing, and walk along Cleve Road.
Camera footage from a house further down the street then showed a man dressed all in black and with his face covered – who we now know to be Coughlan – walking back in the opposite direction 45 minutes later. That man then proceeded to walk around to the alleyway and waited for 20 minutes until Jamie cycled home.
Jamie cycled home from university and it was as he was proceeding through the back garden gate at 5.48pm that he was attacked with a knife by Coughlan dressed all in black. The jury was told Jamie sustained approximately 30 knife wounds, and his injuries were ‘unsurvivable’.
The masked figure was then seen on CCTV cycling away from the scene on Jamie’s bike. The bike was later recovered a short distance away after a member of the public called police having seen our appeal for information.
It was eight hours after the murder, and in the early hours of 9 April, that Coughlan then phoned 999 and claimed he had found the Jamie at the bottom of the garden. Police and paramedics rushed to the scene, but Jamie’s death was confirmed at the scene.
Murder investigation
Attending officers spoke to Coughlan and during those conversations he told officers the attack had been partly recorded on one of his property’s cameras and showed them the clip of the masked man. He reminded them of the copper theft a few days earlier, to try to make it look like the incidents were linked.
Senior Investigating Officer Lucy Edgeworth, of the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “During the early stages of this investigation, we did not have any significant evidence to point us towards who Jamie’s killer was.
“Jamie was a well-liked young man and it seemed impossible that anyone would want to harm him, let alone in such a violent away.”
Coughlan agreed later that day to take part in a video recorded witness interview with a detective, to help the investigative team obtain as much information as possible to establish who Jamie’s killer was.
Having promised to tell the truth, Coughlan proceeded to tell police that he had spent a lot of the afternoon and evening in Stoke Park climbing trees. He said he had sustained cuts and grazes because he fell out of a tree at one point. Coughlan added he had been bleeding as a result and this had ruined his clothes, so he chose to go to Sainsbury’s to buy new ones.
DCI Edgeworth said: “The defendant and victim in most murder cases tend to be known to one another. The way in which this was carried out, with the killer waiting in the alleyway for 20 minutes, strengthened the hypothesis that the murderer knew Jamie’s likely routine.
“Coughlan’s explanation of his movements that day and how he sustained his injuries was odd. While it seemed implausible, it wasn’t impossible, and as an investigation team it was important to follow all the evidence to make sure we brought him to justice.”
A huge CCTV trawl was undertaken to track Coughlan’s movements in the hours after the murder. Footage from dozens of cameras was analysed and showed him buying new clothes, and binning his socks and a jacket he was carrying.
CCTV also helped narrow down where Coughlan had dumped the clothes he was wearing when he committed the murder – a duck pond about one-and-a-half miles from Cleve Road. Police divers were deployed and found the clothes Coughlan wore both before and during the murder.
Forensic evidence, including the presence of Coughlan’s blood being found on Jamie’s bike, led to him eventually admit to killing Jamie, but he claimed it was manslaughter.
Coughlan told the jury he accepted he had been Jamie’s killer and he had lied repeatedly to police.
He added that his friendship with Jamie had deteriorated during the final year of their studies, with a key issue being the rent he was charging.
He said in court Jamie had threatened him the night before the murder with a knife and he had locked himself in his room to keep himself safe. He then said Jamie made another threat towards him before going to university the next day.
DCI Edgeworth said: “Coughlan made out he was scared of Jamie and said he lost control out of fear for his life. Not a single shred of evidence to support that claim was found during our investigation and it was not an account he shared with police during three interviews after he was arrested.
“Such behaviour would have been grossly out-of-character for Jamie, but more crucially the sequence of events does not stack up to scrutiny.
“According to Coughlan, Jamie threatened him twice and made him feel so scared for his life that he had to take matters into his own hands. However, the third housemate heard nothing, which seems unlikely if Coughlan was telling the truth.
“In the hours before the murder, Coughlan was hanging out in the living room while Jamie was still home. No-one would do that if they thought there was someone under their roof who wanted to seriously harm them.
“In court Coughlan admitted to lying in the hours and days after the murder. Yet he still tried to turn the tables and blame Jamie for the vicious murder he committed, when Jamie is tragically no longer able to defend his name.
“Coughlan lied continuously to protect himself – whether it to be to police or his friends about what happened.”
‘Sensitive and caring young man’
Jamie’s family have asked for their privacy to be respected but have shared a tribute to help people understand how much he meant to them.
They said: “Jamie’s death has affected our family in a deep, profound, and lasting way.
“As a family we have had to explain repeatedly to people what has happened. Every time we do so it reinforces the pain of him having been killed so suddenly, and in such a senseless and brutal way.
“Just travelling from South Wales to Bristol is now painful for us. When we drive along the M4 and travel into the city, we see signs for Filton and this is an immediate reminder of Jamie’s death.
“Our family has been sickened that Zack Coughlan pretended to help Jamie when in fact he is responsible for killing him. We even felt sympathy for Zack at the start, and asked police if he was ok, because of how he had initially deceived everyone.
“We organised a memorial for Jamie in July, involving wider family, friends from home and the University of West England where he studied. We asked everyone to share their memories of Jamie and all of them revealed acts of kindness he had done for them.
“Jamie was a sensitive and caring young man. His passion for equality stood out to everyone who knew him. His unapologetic inclusivity will be his legacy for all of us.
“Jamie was incredibly bright and he had a promising future ahead of him. He had only two pieces of coursework to complete for his robotics degree before he was going to come home in a matter of weeks.
“Jamie had accumulated enough results that he was awarded a two-one degree. We were pleased to see his friends collect their degrees, but it was another emotional and painful reminder of what we have lost.
“Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has supported us over the past six months.
“To see so many of Jamie’s friends in the public gallery at court was truly overwhelming.
“We will never forget people’s kindness.”
DCI Edgeworth said: “Jamie’s family and friends have been put through an ordeal that is impossible to adequately describe.
“They have experienced the most appalling tragedy and lost a son and a brother who clearly meant the world to all of them.
“They have shown remarkable levels of courage during our investigation and trial, watching footage that no family should ever have to sit through.
“Today’s conviction sadly does not undo any of the pain they continue to feel, but hopefully it helps them going forward to know what happened to Jamie.”
