A masked university student waited for his housemate to come home before stabbing him 30 times, a court has heard.
Zack Coughlan, 23, allegedly dressed entirely in black and wore a mask and gloves as he ambushed Jamie Collins, 21, in the garden of their home in Filton, South Gloucestershire.
The jury was told that Coughlan and Mr Collins were both final-year students at UWE Bristol and shared a house owned by the defendant. Prosecutors described the attack as a “carefully planned and cold-blooded execution”.
The two men had previously argued over the rent Coughlan was charging Mr Collins, the court heard.
Mr Collins was stabbed repeatedly before Coughlan allegedly left him dying in an alleyway and cycled away on his housemate’s bicycle, Bristol Crown Court was told.
Coughlan, of Cleve Road, Filton, is said to accept that he killed Mr Collins but denies murder.
The 21-year-old student was attacked shortly before 6pm on April 8 this year, after returning from university, where he was studying robotics alongside Coughlan.
Coughlan allegedly abandoned the bicycle at a nearby retail park, bought a change of clothes and discarded his bloodstained clothing in a pond.
He later returned to the Cleve Road property at about 9pm, put a pizza in the oven and played online games with friends.
Jamie Collins was stabbed to death in the garden of the university home he shared with Zack Coughlan, 23, who is on trial accused of his murder
Mr Collins was repeatedly stabbed before Coughlan allegedly left him dying in an alleyway and cycled away on his housemate’s bicycle, Bristol Crown Court heard
The student was attacked shortly before 6pm on April 8 this year after returning from university, where he studied robotics with his alleged killer
Adam Vaitilingam KC, prosecuting, told the jury: “A few hours later he decided it was time to call the police and pretend that he had just found his friend’s body in the garden.
“At about 2am – eight hours later – the defendant called 999. He said that his friend had been stabbed. They told him to perform CPR until paramedics arrived and he told them that he was.”
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“Shortly afterwards, armed police officers arrived. They saw Jamie’s body in the back garden of the house.
“They spoke to the defendant. He told them that he had been out at the park and had just come home.
“He had noticed that the back gate was open, so he came outside. It was then that he found Jamie lying in the garden.”
The court heard that CCTV cameras at the shared house captured the attack. Coughlan showed the footage to officers, who initially treated him as a witness.
Mr Vaitilingam told jurors that the prosecution’s case was that Coughlan was the masked attacker.
He said Coughlan’s blood was found on Mr Collins’s bicycle, while an analysis of the defendant’s mobile phone matched the movements of the killer later recorded on CCTV.
‘The investigation showed clear evidence that it was Zack who had been the man who had waited for Jamie and then stabbed him to death before cycling away,’ he said.
‘And so Zack went from being a witness to a suspect in the murder. He was arrested and interviewed by the police.’
Coughlan had injuries to his hands, and he told people who saw him bleeding that he had been climbing trees and had fallen and hurt himself.
Mr Vaitilingam said there had previously been disagreements between the pair about paying rent and whether Coughlan was charging too much, but they had been resolved.
‘There was nothing that any of the friends were aware of that seemed to be a significant problem,’ he said.
‘They hung out together both in person and online, they did gaming together, they went out together, entirely normal student life.’
The trial continues.