A man is suing his local council for $648 million and is determined to pursue the case until a court explicitly rules against him.
Most of us have regretted discarding something only to realize its value later, but this man’s loss was far greater—his partner accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoins, now worth a fortune.
His partner, thinking the bag was trash, took it to a dump, unaware that it contained the hard drive. The 39-year-old tech expert, James Howells, requested permission from Newport City Council to search for the hard drive, but they denied his request, sparking a 10-year legal battle.
During this time, Howells has reportedly enlisted help from NASA data recovery experts, top lawyers, and even a former waste services official who helped ‘bury’ the hard drive.
Howells has filed a $648 million lawsuit to recover the hard drive, now valued at around $514.37 million, and claims it would cost $13 million to excavate the section of the landfill, known as Cell 2 – Area 2, where he believes it is buried. He accuses the council of potentially not being a ‘competent landfill operator’ and suggests that environmental regulations have been breached. He also offers to modernize the site if allowed to dig.
Howells said, “I could spend my life working a regular job and thinking about it daily, but I’d rather try to recover this small piece of metal.” He remains committed to the case despite having invested ‘all’ his ‘resources,’ which has left him financially strained. Howells is prepared to continue until the courts say “no” definitively.
He added, “We’re ready for the full legal process, including appeals and the Supreme Court. I didn’t want to go to court, but this is my last option.”
In response, Newport Council emphasized they have repeatedly told Howells that excavation is ‘not feasible’ due to environmental permits and warned that such efforts would have a ‘significant negative environmental impact.’
The council stressed they are the ‘only entity authorized to operate on the site’ and follow strict environmental regulations, regularly reporting to the regulator.
They stated, “Responding to Howells’ unfounded claims continues to waste valuable time and resources that could be better spent on serving Newport residents.”