Bristol court sentences 23-year-old to life for housemate murder

Zack Coughlan faces at least 28 years behind bars after a judge at Bristol Crown Court handed down a life sentence for the murder of his university housemate, Jamie Collins. Coughlan, 23, killed Collins on April 8, 2026, in a home in Filton. The pair studied robotics at the University of the West of England. The court heard that Coughlan planned a cold-blooded execution of the 21-year-old. He ambushed Collins as the student returned home and stabbed him approximately 30 times. After the attack, Coughlan left the scene to dispose of evidence before returning to his room. He cooked a pizza and played online video games. He did not call police until 2:00 a.m. the following morning, roughly eight hours after the stabbing. At that point, he falsely claimed he had just discovered Collins' body. Coughlan maintained that lie during the police investigation and the early stages of his trial. He initially told the court that he stabbed Collins because he feared for his own life. Justice Linden ruled that the defense of loss of control was not admissible. Coughlan then changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.

In a separate case, Yasmeen Ali received an indefinite hospital order for the manslaughter of her three children in Sea Mills. Ali, 44, killed Fares Bash, 7, Joury Bash, 3, and Mohammed Bash, 9 months, in February 2024. She attempted to take her own life after the incident. Psychiatric evidence indicated that her actions were almost entirely attributable to mental disorder. Ali pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

The court also sentenced Timothy Mealing to 32 and a half years in prison on October 19. The repeat offender was convicted of 24 sexual offenses committed against four young girls. He also received a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and restraining orders. One survivor told the court that her childhood was stolen from her. She said, "I grew up way too soon because of you; way too fast. You did things to me that were supposed to be left to adults."

Wayne Milsom was sentenced to 15 years in prison and four years on license on October 21 for the manslaughter of 72-year-old Stephen Ridgeway. Milsom and another man forced their way into Ridgeway's home on Tenby Road in Keynsham on November 3, 2024. The pair wanted drugs and money. They marched the pensioner to his kitchen, where he was threatened with a knife, hit with a hammer, pushed to the floor, and kicked. Ridgeway spent his final month in hospital and died on December 7, 2024. Judge Julian Lambert noted a clear causal link between the chest trauma and the victim's death.

Three men from London received prison sentences of at least five years each on October 15 for aggravated burglary. Terroll Paul, Mohamed Samagassi, and Pierre Madzou broke into a home in the early hours of May 15 and assaulted the occupant to steal cryptocurrency. The victim suffered a head injury that required hospital treatment. His teenage sister alerted police, leading to the arrests at the scene.

Neil Chiddy was sentenced to 25 years in prison on October 15 for a series of sexual offenses. The 49-year-old was convicted of abusing children and raping an adult woman. The offenses occurred in Wiltshire and the Bath and North East Somerset area. Police arrested Chiddy in the West Midlands in November 2022 after a victim disclosed the abuse to family members.

Kurt Buxton was jailed for 18 months for headbutting a man outside the Wellington Pub in Horfield on October 18, 2025. Robin Beard had told Buxton to stop urinating in public. Buxton followed them and headbutted Beard, knocking out two front teeth. Beard fell into the path of traffic and broke two bones in his lower back. Peter Soares received a suspended two-and-a-half-year sentence on October 24 for sexually assaulting a teenage girl in May 2022. The court found that the incident had a devastating impact on the victim's mental health.