UK Man Sues Landfill to Recover $760 Million Bitcoin Fortune Mistakenly Thrown in Trash
In a last-ditch attempt to recover an old hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin that was accidentally thrown out more than 10 years ago, James Howells is suing the Newport City Council for the right to excavate the landfill.
James Howells of Newport, Wales is waging a high-stakes legal battle to reclaim a discarded hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin (BTCUSD), now valued at an astonishing £602 million ($767 million). Howells, a 39-year-old IT engineer, has spent over a decade attempting to gain access to a landfill site where he believes the hard drive was buried in 2013, but Newport City Council remains firmly opposed.
The case heard recently at Cardiff Civil and Family Court, has captured global attention as Howells sues the council for either access to excavate the landfill or compensation for the hard drive’s lost value.
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$760 Million Mistake
In the summer of 2013, Howells accidentally disposed of the hard drive during a routine office cleanup, placing it in a black bag. He claims the bag was later taken to the dump by his then-girlfriend, Halfina Eddy-Evans, who has since stated she was acting on his request.
Eddy-Evans told The Daily Mail:
“I thought he should be running his errands, not me, but I did it to help out. Losing it was not my fault.”
Howells quickly realized the magnitude of the error but was too late to retrieve the hard drive, which had already been deposited at the Docksway landfill site in Newport. Since then, he has repeatedly petitioned the council for permission to search the landfill.
Eddy-Evans added:
“I hope he finds it, not that I want a penny of his money, but it will shut him up! … I’d love nothing more than him to find it. I’m sick and tired of hearing about it.”
A “Precise Excavation”
Howells’ efforts to recover the hard drive are anything but reckless. Backed by a team of experts, including data recovery specialists and engineers, he has developed a detailed plan to conduct what his legal team calls a “precise excavation.”
Dean Armstrong KC, representing Howells, told the court that, despite being labeled as a “needle in a haystack case,” it was instead a “precise excavation” of a “small area which we have been able to identify.”
Armstrong added:
“This is a finely tuned plan by expert excavators.”
Howells claims to have pinpointed the drive’s location within “Cell 2, Area 2” of the landfill, enlisting the help of a former council waste manager to narrow down the search. The project, estimated to cost £10 million (USD $12.7 million), would be fully funded by private investors and conducted in compliance with environmental regulations, according to Howells.
City Council Pushback
Newport City Council, however, remains unconvinced. The council has argued that granting access to the landfill would violate environmental permits and could cause significant ecological harm.
In court, their legal representative, James Goudie KC, emphasized the legal framework behind their stance, stating:
“[The law is] clear, unambiguous, and plain. Anything deposited to the council shall belong to the council and will be dealt with accordingly. Anything that goes into the landfill goes into the council’s ownership.”
Goudie also dismissed Howells’ previous offer to share 10% of the Bitcoin’s value with the council as a “bribe,” asserting that the council is not in a position to “sell” anything it does not own.
A spokesperson for Newport City Council reiterated this stance, saying:
“The council has told Mr. Howells multiple times that excavation is not possible under our environmental permit and that work of that nature would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area. Yet again responding to Mr. Howells’ baseless claims is costing the council and Newport taxpayers time and money which could be better spent on delivering services.”
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“I Won’t Give Up”
For Howells, the fight is about more than just the money, with the Newport, Wales man stating:
“I could spend the rest of my life working nine-to-five and thinking about it every day. I might as well spend my time trying to recover this simple piece of metal.”
Howells remains undeterred, stating that he is prepared to take his case all the way to the UK Supreme Court if necessary.
“Until the courts tells me ‘N-O spells no’, I’m going to keep going. Obviously my finances are not in the best position at the moment. I’m focusing all my current efforts and resources, including money, on the recovery project,” added Howells.
Public Interest and Skepticism
The case has sparked debate about the feasibility of recovering data from a hard drive buried for over a decade in a landfill. While some experts suggest that data recovery might still be possible if the hard drive’s internal components remain intact, others argue that environmental factors such as moisture, heat, and pressure may have rendered the device irreparable.
Despite the challenges, Howells is optimistic, stating:
“There’s a huge incentive for us to recover those coins because there’s lot of good things we can do for the local community and local environment at the same time. It’s not just a case of me winning in this situation, everybody can win.”
Judge Keyser KC, who presided over the preliminary hearing, has reserved his decision on whether the case will proceed to a full trial. A verdict is expected later this month.
As Bitcoin continues its volatile rise in value, Howells’ pursuit highlights both the promise and perils of the cryptocurrency boom. For now, his battle with Newport City Council remains a symbol of unwavering determination—and the extraordinary stakes of a momentary lapse in judgment.
Bitcoin Breaks Through $100K Milestone
Fueled by Donald Trump’s election win in November and the recent debut of options trading for Bitcoin ETFs, such as the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT) and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust ETF (NYSE Arca: GBTC), demand for cryptocurrencies has never been higher.
Since Trump’s victory on November 5th, the price of Bitcoin (BTCUSD) has soared by as much as 50%, and after flirting with the $100,000 barrier for the past two weeks, BTC officially broke through today reaching a new all-time high of $103,577.97.
Bitcoin is currently changing hands at $97,174.97, up 0.13% on the day. YTD, BTC is up 119.83%.
From its all-time low of $0.05 on July 18, 2010, to its new record high of $103,577.97, Bitcoin has risen an astonishing 207,155,840% in just 14 years.
View Bitcoin Interactive Stock Chart on Barchart
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