A university student has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 28 years for murdering his housemate in a brutal, premeditated attack near Bristol.
Both men were final-year students at the University of the West of England. Coughlan initially denied the charge and stood trial at Bristol Crown Court, but entered a guilty plea mid-trial.
Sentencing Coughlan, Justice Linden remarked that the victim was an idealist whose death came as a profound shock. The judge noted the attack was planned in advance and that the guilty plea came as conviction became inevitable.
