I had my Christmas presents and laptop stolen during a bus journey to Belfast

He was also pickpocketed earlier that day


Third year Leigh Kimmins had his Christmas presents and laptop stolen as he travelled to Belfast.

The Liverpool John Moores finalist had been in Dublin on holiday with his girlfriend before heading to Belfast for a work experience placement. The distraught Journalism student has begged for help in finding his bag containing books borrowed from his uni for dissertation work, and most of his clothes after it went missing from a bus.

Leigh during happier times

Leigh, 21, said he was gutted to discover his belongings were gone after being pickpockets in Dublin that same day. He has urged anybody who may have taken the bag by mistake to contact him. Leigh, from Newry, said: “My girlfriend was over visiting me from London and we decided to visit Dublin, within seven hours of being there I was pickpocketed of all my cash so it’s been a horrendous two days.

“Despite this setback we decided we’d still have a good night so we stayed in Dublin. I got on the bus the next day at 3 o’clock from Dublin bus station to go straight to Belfast to start my work experience but when I arrived in Belfast I noticed my bag wasn’t in the hold all anymore. When I noticed this I actually felt sick at my own luck. I initially thought I may have accidentally put it on a different bus but I’ve made dozens of calls and it’s not in any lost and found.

“The bag had my whole life in it, I had to delay my work experience because I haven’t got a stitch to wear. Clothes from Christmas including new shirts and a Manchester United top my younger sister got me, shoes my girlfriend got me and my favourite jumper my girlfriend brought me back from Peru, made from alpaca wool. I also am now without a passport to get me back to uni in Liverpool and my laptop with all my dissertation work and books borrowed from my university’s library for my dissertation are gone too. If anyone knows anything and has seen anything please get in touch, I feel like I’m in limbo and my life’s on hold without that stuff. It’s a red sports bag that’s black on both end and it has black straps and there’s a faded gold logo on the front of it.”

Leigh at work on his laptop prior to its disappearance

Anybody with any information about the whereabouts of the bag is asked to contact The Tab Belfast, or Leigh himself.