Court shown footage of moment Swansea man allegedly stabbed by housemate near Bristol
21-year-old Jamie Coughlan who was studying at UWE was allegedly stabbed 30 times by 23-year-old Zack Coughlan in April
Footage showing the moment a university student was allegedly stabbed 30 times by his housemate has been played to a jury.
Bristol Crown Court heard Zack Coughlan, 23, was dressed in black and wearing a mask and gloves when he ambushed Jamie Collins, 21, in the garden of their home in Filton, South Gloucestershire.
Mr Collins, originally from Swansea, was attacked as he returned from the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) shortly before 6pm on April 8 this year.
The defendant, who has admitted manslaughter but denies murder, left Mr Collins dying in the alleyway and cycled away from the scene on the victim’s bike, the court heard.
After dumping the bike at a nearby retail park, Coughlan bought a change of clothes and threw his bloodstained clothing in a pond, footage played to the jury showed.
He returned to the house they shared in Cleve Road, which had three CCTV cameras, at about 9pm before going for a walk and bike ride just before 12.45am on April 9, jurors previously heard.
Footage then shows Coughlan going into the garden with a torch at 2.06am, with Mr Collins seen lying on the ground in the gateway.
The defendant rang police at 2.07am to report that his friend had been stabbed.
On Tuesday, jurors were taken through footage from the days leading up to the incident and days after by Helen Bartlett, a CCTV and video investigator.
At 5.58pm, Mr Collin is seen arriving at the garden gate with his bike before he is fatally attacked.
Coughlan looked down and wiped his eyes as the footage was played to the court. Members of Mr Collins’ family left the public gallery after watching the video.
Dashcam footage recorded Coughlan leaving the alleyway at 5.50pm.
On Monday, Adam Vaitilingam KC, prosecuting, told jurors that Coughlan – who showed officers the CCTV of the fatal attack – was initially treated as a witness.
However, an investigation by Avon and Somerset Police revealed “clear evidence” that Coughlan had been the killer and he was arrested before being charged with murder, Mr Vaitilingam said.
The court heard Coughlan and Mr Collins were both final year robotics students at UWE Bristol and lived in the house, which was owned by the defendant.
There had previously been disagreements about paying rent and whether Coughlan was charging too much but these had been resolved, Mr Vaitilingam added.
He said Coughlan accepts he killed Mr Collins and has admitted manslaughter but will tell the court he had “lost control of himself” and was in fear for his life in the lead-up to the attack.
However, Mr Vaitilingam told jurors the case involved a “carefully planned and cold-blooded execution”.
“Far from being out of control, Zack was very much in control of what he did, and you will see that as we show you his movements in the hours and minutes before he killed Jamie,” he said on Monday.
“His actions afterwards, disposing of his clothes, pretending he had been climbing trees so as to explain knife cuts to his hands, coming home and playing online games with his friends, looking at the CCTV app on his phone, trying to deceive the police when he called them at 2am.
“Those were further acts of someone very much in control.”
Coughlan, of Cleve Road, Filton, South Gloucestershire, denies murder.
The trial continues.