Welsh Engineer's Quest to Recover Bitcoin Hardware Hits Legal Setback
James Howells' decade-long battle to reclaim a hard drive containing 7,500 bitcoins faces challenges as local authorities move to close landfill.
James Howells, a 39-year-old engineer from Wales, has spent over a decade attempting to retrieve a hard drive lost in a municipal landfill in Newport, which contains the keys to a cryptocurrency wallet holding 7,500 bitcoins.
The hard drive was mistakenly discarded during a home cleanup in the summer of 2013, leading to its disposal in the landfill.
Howells has sought permission from the Newport City Council to excavate the landfill in hopes of recovering the device but has been met with consistent refusals.
He claims to have invested significant time, legal resources, and financial backing from investors to pursue this endeavor.
As of now, the value of the bitcoins, which were initially purchased for mere pennies, is estimated to be around €742 million, with projections suggesting it could reach £1 billion in the coming months.
In January 2023, the case garnered renewed media attention following a recent judicial ruling.
The High Court dismissed Howells' claim, preventing him from presenting his case in a full trial.
Judge Keyser KC concluded that there was no realistic prospect of legal success for Howells.
This ruling effectively ends a legal battle that has persisted for over twelve years.
The local council has maintained throughout the legal proceedings that the hard drive became municipal property upon its disposal in the landfill.
This argument, supported by existing legislation, has been upheld by the courts.
Despite the ongoing legal challenges, Howells has purportedly offered to share the profits from the recovery of the hard drive, yet the council has not responded positively to this proposal.
Howells has criticized the Newport City Council’s stance regarding the closure of the landfill, stating that the council claimed allowing him to search would negatively impact the community, even as plans to close the site were already in place.
The situation has intensified with the announcement of the landfill's impending closure; the Newport City Council has confirmed intentions to seal the area and construct a solar park on part of the site, complicating any future excavation efforts.
Howells has expressed a willingness to purchase the landfill alongside investors to facilitate a systematic search.
He has estimated that he has narrowed down the potential search area to approximately 100,000 tons of waste out of a total of 1.4 million tons.
The hard drive was mistakenly discarded during a home cleanup in the summer of 2013, leading to its disposal in the landfill.
Howells has sought permission from the Newport City Council to excavate the landfill in hopes of recovering the device but has been met with consistent refusals.
He claims to have invested significant time, legal resources, and financial backing from investors to pursue this endeavor.
As of now, the value of the bitcoins, which were initially purchased for mere pennies, is estimated to be around €742 million, with projections suggesting it could reach £1 billion in the coming months.
In January 2023, the case garnered renewed media attention following a recent judicial ruling.
The High Court dismissed Howells' claim, preventing him from presenting his case in a full trial.
Judge Keyser KC concluded that there was no realistic prospect of legal success for Howells.
This ruling effectively ends a legal battle that has persisted for over twelve years.
The local council has maintained throughout the legal proceedings that the hard drive became municipal property upon its disposal in the landfill.
This argument, supported by existing legislation, has been upheld by the courts.
Despite the ongoing legal challenges, Howells has purportedly offered to share the profits from the recovery of the hard drive, yet the council has not responded positively to this proposal.
Howells has criticized the Newport City Council’s stance regarding the closure of the landfill, stating that the council claimed allowing him to search would negatively impact the community, even as plans to close the site were already in place.
The situation has intensified with the announcement of the landfill's impending closure; the Newport City Council has confirmed intentions to seal the area and construct a solar park on part of the site, complicating any future excavation efforts.
Howells has expressed a willingness to purchase the landfill alongside investors to facilitate a systematic search.
He has estimated that he has narrowed down the potential search area to approximately 100,000 tons of waste out of a total of 1.4 million tons.
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