- James Howells, a UK IT specialist, lost his decade-long legal battle to retrieve a hard drive containing £600 million in Bitcoin, as a high court judge ruled his case against Newport city council had no realistic chance of success.
- The council argued the hard drive legally became its property once discarded in the landfill, with environmental restrictions further preventing excavation, a position upheld by Judge Keyser KC.
A decade-long legal battle over a hard drive containing £600 million (AU$1.19 billion) worth of Bitcoin has ended in defeat for James Howells, a 39-year-old IT specialist. A high court judge has ruled against his claim to search a landfill operated by Newport City Council, concluding the case has no chance of success.
As per a report from The Guardian, the legal blow was delivered by Judge Keyser KC, who determined that Howells lacked a valid claim to pursue the retrieval.
He stated that Howells’s arguments didn’t provide sufficient grounds to continue the case and agreed with the council’s position that the hard drive became its property upon entering the landfill.
Related: Ripple President Monica Long Says XRP ETF Could Come Soon, RLUSD to Receive More Listings
Environmental restrictions on excavation further strengthened the council’s case. In his judgment, Keyser said:
The claim would have no realistic prospect of succeeding if it went to trial, and there is no compelling reason for it to proceed.
Judge Keyser KC
A Costly Mistake, But It’s Not Over
Howells’s ordeal began in 2013 when he inadvertently placed the hard drive containing his Bitcoin wallet in a bag destined for the landfill during an office clear-out. The device believed to hold a fortune in cryptocurrency was mistakenly discarded as trash by his partner at the time.
Upon realising the error, Howells repeatedly approached the council with requests to search the site, even offering to split the proceeds. However, the council consistently refused. Shortly after the judge’s decision, Howell stated:
The case being struck out at the earliest hearing doesn’t even give me the opportunity to explain myself or an opportunity for justice in any shape or form. There was so much more that could have been explained in a full trial and that’s what I was expecting.
James HowellsRepresenting Howells, Dean Armstrong KC argued that the proposed recovery would be precise and limited to a small, targeted area managed by professional excavators. The council, represented by James Goudie KC, maintained that environmental laws prohibited such operations and reiterated that the hard drive legally belonged to the council once discarded.
Related: Musk Warns of Potential Drop in Dogecoin and Bitcoin Prices if ‘Doge Department’ Curbs Inflation
Despite this setback, Howells remains determined to continue his fight. He has suggested the value of those funds could exceed £1 billion (AU$1.9 billion) within a year and has expressed a willingness to take his case to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Credit: Source link
