British Man Sues Council for $647M Over Lost Bitcoin

James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, is suing Newport City Council for 495 million British pounds (nearly $647 million) in damages. This lawsuit follows his accidental disposal of a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin.

In 2013, Howells threw out the hard drive during a household clearout in error. At that time, the BTC was worth around 1 million pounds (about $1.3 million). Today, the value has soared to nearly half a billion pounds.

🇬🇧James Howells, an IT engineer, is suing Newport City Council for $647 million after the council blocked his attempts to recover a hard drive containing 8,000 $BTC.

The drive was mistakenly discarded in 2013. Despite offering the council 10% of the recovered value, the council… pic.twitter.com/D7nTDUHECw

— Satoshi Talks (@Satoshi_Talks) October 12, 2024

Attempts to Recover and Legal Action 

Howells has made numerous attempts to retrieve the hard drive from the local landfill, according to WalesOnline. Despite his efforts, Newport City Council has consistently denied his requests to excavate the site. The council cites environmental concerns as the primary reason for their refusal.

Howells has now put together a team of legal experts to file a court claim, which is scheduled to be heard in December. He has offered the council 10% of the recovered Bitcoin’s value if the hard drive is found, but the council remains firm in its decision.

Environmental Concerns

The landfill in question has been flagged for breaches of its environmental permit, including elevated levels of asbestos, arsenic, and methane. The council argues that excavating the site could harm the surrounding area and insists that their operations follow strict monitoring protocols.

In 2022, Howells proposed an $11 million plan to locate and recover the lost hard drive. This plan, which would involve no cost to the council, includes the use of robots to sift through 110,000 tonnes of garbage. Despite this, the council continues to question the legality and feasibility of Howells’ claims.

To avoid similar situations, it is crucial to store hardware wallets safely, keep private keys secure offline, and back up recovery phrases in multiple secure locations.