Student on trial searched 'what does corpse look like'

A university student who ambushed and stabbed his housemate to death searched 'what does corpse look like' on his phone, a court has heard.

Zack Coughlan, 23, stabbed Jamie Collins 30 times in the garden of their home in Filton, near Bristol, on 8 April in what prosecutors called a "carefully planned and cold-blooded execution".

His trial at Bristol Crown Court heard Coughlan admits responsibility for the attack but said he lost self control because he feared for his life. He denies murder.

The jury heard search terms on his phone were made at unknown times which included "defending yourself with lethal force against an acid attack lawful" and ''difference between revenge and vengeance".

Coughlan and Collins, who was 21, were both final-year robotics students at the University of the West of England (UWE), and lived together in a house owned by the defendant.

CCTV footage was previously shown in court showing Coughlan dressed in black and wearing a mask to ambush and stab Collins in their garden, before cycling away to dispose of the bloodstained evidence.

After returning home, Coughlan cooked a pizza, played online games with friends and then called police at 02:00 GMT - about six hours after the attack.

On Thursday, jurors heard Alex Henderson, a friend who played video games with Coughlan three hours after he is alleged to have killed Collins, said his behaviour was "normal" and "didn't indicate anything was off".

Fraser Stone, another friend who met Coughlan at UWE two days later, said he wanted to organise a memorial service for Collins.

"He told me that something bad had happened to Jamie," he told jurors.

Stone said Coughlan reminded him of an incident in which the defendant claimed to have confronted a group of men at the back of his property, who he alleged had been carrying knives. Stone added he made the assumption this was related to what had happened to Collins.

The police interview of Charlie Latimer, who lived with the two students, was played to the jury on Wednesday.

He was woken at about 02:00 when he heard a noise from Coughlan and went downstairs to find the police outside the back door and Collins' body on he floor.

Latimer said he could see Coughlan was "incredibly shocked."

He said Collins and Coughlan had a "slight" disagreement over rent in October or November last year, when Collins thought they were paying too much to live in a friend's house.

Latimer said they had been paying £650 per month which was reduced to £500, then down to zero. In the three months before the attack they only contributed to household bills.

The trial continues.

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