A judge halts an attempt to recover millions in Bitcoin from a landfill
A man’s decade-long battle to recover his £600m (about $750M) bitcoin fortune has been halted by a judge.
James Howells, 39, launched a lawsuit after he lost his Bitcoin hard drive in a landfill in 2013 in Newport, Wales, the BBC reported.
Since his misfortune, Howells has offered to fully fund the mining process and share 25% of the Bitcoin found with Newport City Council.
However, the city rejected his request, starting a decade-long saga in an attempt to recover his missing cryptocurrency.
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On Thursday, the newspaper reported, the Commercial District Judge for Wales Judge Keyser dismissed Howells’ lawsuit seeking permission to drill.
In his ruling, Keyser said Howells had “no good cause” to bring the lawsuit and that there was “no realistic prospect” of success if the case went to full trial.
“I think that the details of the claim do not show any reasonable grounds for the hearing of this case. I also think that the claim will not have a realistic hope of success if it is heard and there is no other strong reason why it should be dismissed during the trial,” he said.
The judge said he accepted the council’s argument that they were in charge of the hard drives and Howells had no right to them.
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“In my judgment, the defendant [the council’s] the argument is correct and provides a complete answer to the claims,” he said.
Howells told a British newspaper that he was “saddened” by the decision, saying it felt like a “kick in the teeth.”
“The case that is withdrawn before the trial does not give me the opportunity to explain myself or the opportunity to do justice in any situation,” he said. “There was a lot that could be explained in a full trial and that’s what I expected.”
He added that “he has been trying to communicate with Newport City Council in every way possible for people for the past 12 years.”
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“It’s not selfish, I’m happy to share the money I received, but no one in office will have a decent conversation with me,” he said.
“This decision took everything from me and left me with nothing,” he said. “It is Britain’s great system of injustice that strikes again.”
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