UWE robotics student admits ambushing housemate in mask and gloves before leaving him to die for eight hours

Zack Coughlan, 23, told Bristol Crown Court on Friday that he had dressed in black, worn a mask and gloves, and lay in wait to attack his housemate Jamie Collins as Collins returned from campus. Coughlan acknowledges responsibility for Collins's death but contests the murder charge, claiming he acted out of fear for his own life after Collins allegedly threatened to kill him during a rent dispute. Collins's body remained in the alleyway for more than eight hours before Coughlan called 999.

Collins, 21, from Swansea, allegedly sustained 30 stab wounds and died at the garden gate of their Filton home on April 8.

The dispute centred on rent — Coughlan's mother had lent him £300,000 to purchase the house, and he had passed additional charges on to his housemates.

Coughlan, captured on CCTV, told the jury he felt 'horrible' about lying to police and friends; he had been on track to graduate with a first-class degree.