Court Denies Owner of Lost Bitcoins Request to Search for Drive in Landfill
Date: 2025-03-18 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
Judge Christopher Nagy rejected the appeal of James Howells, who sought permission to excavate a city landfill in search of a hard drive with bitcoins. According to the judge, the case has no real prospects, and there are no other compelling grounds for its review.
After failing in the British courts, Howells announced his intention to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. He intends to prove that the British judicial authorities violated his right to property and a fair trial.
“The British authorities are trying to hush this story up, but I will not back down. No matter how long it takes, I will get what I want!” he said.
The story began in 2013, when a programmer accidentally threw away a hard drive on which his bitcoins were stored. Since then, he has repeatedly tried to obtain permission to search, proposing various plans to the Newport local authorities to extract the disc. However, all of his proposals were rejected.
Howells previously filed a lawsuit against the city council, seeking $647 million in compensation for refusing to grant access to the dump for excavation.
