Man blocked from recovering £598,000,000 of Bitcoin buried in a dump

A man who accidentally binned a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin tokens more than a decade ago has had his attempt to recover it blocked in court.

James Howells has been trying to retrieve it since his partner mistakenly threw it out during a spring clean in 2013.

Its value has surged to an estimated £598million since then, but Newport Council has refused to help.

Speaking last year, Mr Howells said: ‘It doesn’t appear that they want to be cooperative and work together which will ultimately lead to us issuing high court proceedings against them in the near future.’

But a High Court judge today threw out his attempt to sue the council in an attempt to force it to allow recovery or pay compensation for its value.

Judge Andrew Keyser KC said there were no ‘reasonable grounds’ for bringing the claim and ‘no realistic prospect’.

Mr Howells mined the 8,000 Bitcoin in 2009 at almost no cost to himself. He forgot about it, storing it in a black bin bag, until its value surged to £9million several months later.

By then it was long gone. The hard drive is now buried somewhere among 350,000 tonnes of rubbish at Newport Household Waste Recycling Centre in South Wales.

Despite offering to pay the council £10million if it is recovered, the council says finding it is unlikely, would harm the environment and could cost millions of pounds, with no guarantee of that money being reimbursed.

Reacting to the decision to strike out his case, Mr Howells said: ‘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.’

He added: ‘It’s not about greed, I’m happy to share the proceeds but nobody in a position of power will have a decent conversation with me.

‘This ruling has taken everything from me and left me with nothing. It’s the great British injustice system striking again.’

James Goudie KC, representing the council, said Mr Howells had forfeited ownership of the hard drive when it entered the landfill.

He also said environmental regulations mean it can’t excavate the site without violating its permits.

In a written judgement, the judge said: ‘I consider that the particulars of claim do not show any reasonable grounds for bringing this case.’

‘I also consider that the claim would have no realistic prospect of succeeding if it went to trial and that there is no other compelling reason why it should be disposed of at trial.’

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