A 39-year-old man has started legal action against Newport City Council to win the right to be able to search their rubbish tips to find what he believes is £635million of Bitcoin
A man who “threw away” £635million of Bitcoin is taking legal action in a bid to recover it.
James Howells has stepped up the fight to retrieve the cryptocoin after its valued soared to record high on Thursday – hitting above $102k per unit. The 39-year-old has launched court action against a council that has refused to let him excavate computer equipment needed to unlock his 8,000 Bitcoins.
A decade ago Mr Howells lost what would now be a huge fortune after his partner threw away a black bin bag containing the drive he needed to gain access to his stash. It has since laid in a rubbish tip run by Newport Council in Wales and he has spent years fighting for the right to retrieve it.
On Monday, Mr Howells appeared at court for the first time in front of a judge at Cardiff High Court to start legal proceedings which be declared was a “last resort”. During the hearing the court heard submissions on a “strike out” application made by the council. Mr Howells’s legal team claimed he had a team of experts who could go in and retrieve it with no cost to the public purse – while the council argued it would have a “negative environmental impact”.
Judge Keyser KC said he would reserve his decision until a later date. If the council’s application is not granted it would pave the way for a full two week hearing within the next six months. Mr Howells has pledged to donate 10% of proceeds back to the local area. The council’s legal team accused this of being a “bribe” to the council.
But speaking before the case, Mr Howells said said the local authority refused to engage with him and had missed the chance to “turn Newport into the Dubai or Las Vegas”.
He said: “Despite being thrown out by my ex partner, which was a mistake and was without my permission or consent, I still own the intellectual digital property located on the hard drive. I am either entitled to recover the property at full cost to myself or if the landowner refuses they it they pay me the value of my property.
“I would much rather say let’s have a conversation and let’s dig and work together amicably – but they don’t want to know. I instigated the court action that should take about three to six months. Should I be successful in defeating the ‘throw out’ application’ I will be proceeding within three to six months with a full two week court case. It is crazy money that could do so much good for the area.”
If he wins the right to search for his lost Bitcoin, Mr Howells said he has a team of expert recovery workers, businesses and investors who are backing him.
He added: “The council lives in the dark ages. Newport could have looked like Las Vegas or Dubai if they had the foresight to engage. If they had spoken to me back then about investment in crypto the whole area – the whole of South Wales – could have profited from the rise. But they were not intelligent enough or willing to listen to do so. I have continued to try and engage with them and they’ve rejected all communication with us.”
James said he has assembled a strong legal team and experts to fight the case. “In June this year I finally decided to take legal action against Newport Council – this is a last resort,” he explained. “They have continued to ignore my reasonable requests so legal action is the only course I could take. The assets are legally owned on their property. I am the owner of those and I have that legal right to retrieve my property.
“I believe I can do so at no cost or impact to Newport Council – yet they continue to refuse any efforts to engage. I’ve employed a team that have done multiple landfill excavations – all within environmental guidelines. We also have AI experts that have the tech to make the job of finding the needle in the haystack that much easier. I can carry out everything at no cost to the public.”
Newport City Council said: “Newport City Council has been contacted multiple times since 2013 about the possibility of retrieving a piece of IT hardware said to be in our landfill site. 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. The council is the only body authorised to carry out operations on the site. Mr. Howells’s claim has no merit, and the council is vigorously resisting it.”
