Bitcoin miner cannot get well ‘£600m’ fortune, decide guidelines as ex ‘sick of listening to about it’

James Howells claimed that Newport City Council should either allow recovery of the hard drive or pay him compensation for the value – but a judge has thrown out his case

A man who alleges he lost over £600 million in Bitcoin after accidentally sending a hard drive to landfill has had his case thrown out as well. James Howells initiated legal proceedings against Newport City Council, arguing that it should either permit the recovery of the hard drive or compensate him for its value.

However, Judge Andrew Keyser KC dismissed the case on Thursday, stating that Mr Howells does not have “any reasonable grounds” for the claim and it “would have no realistic prospect of succeeding if it went to trial”.

Mr Howells previously informed the High Court in Cardiff that he had mined 8,000 Bitcoin in 2009 and secured it with a private key stored on a hard drive which he kept in a drawer at home.

In 2013, during a house clear-out, he placed the hard drive in a black bin bag thinking it was a different, empty hard drive, which his then partner Halfina Eddy-Evans then discarded.

Despite later breaking up, Hafina told Mail Online that she hopes her ex finds the lost fortune, not because she wants any of the money, but to finally put an end to the saga. She said: “Yes, I threw away his rubbish, he asked me to.”

She added: “I thought he should be running his errands, not me, but I did it to help out. Losing it was not my fault. I’d love nothing more than him to find it. I’m sick and tired of hearing about it.”

James said he was prompted to check on the hard drive when the value of his Bitcoin rocketed to £9 million a few months later and discovered it had been taken to the Docksway Landfill Site in Newport.

Despite repeated requests to the council to retrieve the hard drive being ignored, he said, even though he offered it 10% of the Bitcoin’s value should it be recovered. He also assembled a team of experts who claimed they had pinpointed the hard drive’s location in the 350,000-tonne landfill site and could access it without costing the council any money.

Newport City Council shut down the dig proposal, insisting that it could endanger both residents and the environment while also violating its agreement with Natural Resources Wales. The council further noted that Mr Howells lost any ownership rights over the hard drive by disposing of it.

In a written declaration, Judge Keyser confirmed the time lapse between misplacing the hard drive and initiating legal action as too great, remarking: “I consider that the particulars of claim do not show any reasonable grounds for bringing this case.”

He added, “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.”

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.