Dad to sue council for £1 BILLION and could bankrupt them for refusing to search dump for his lost Bitcoin hard drive

A DAD is preparing to sue his council for £1 billion – and could bankrupt them – over a missing hard drive containing Bitcoin worth £275 million.

James Howells, 38, has launched a legal battle to recover the Bitcoin fortune that was accidentally thrown away during an office clear-out.

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Computer engineer James put the hard drive containing the Bitcoin in a black bag along with other parts during a spring cleaning.

He says his ex took the rubbish to the dump in Newport, Gwent – and James has now been fighting the authorities for ten years for permission to get it back.

James says he is now prepared to take his fight to the Supreme Court and seek a judicial review to get his property back.

He told The Sun: “It's a bit like being a neighbor and kicking your football over the neighbour's fence: they have to give your property back within reason.

“They can't instead build a brick wall over your property, which is essentially what Newport City Council has done by continuing to pile rubbish on it.”

James has hired a legal team who have written to the council seeking permission to search the site for the missing hard drive.

He previously offered to share the Bitcoin fortune with the council if they found it.

“We've tried for 10 years to be friendly and get the council to come to the table to talk to us, but they're just too stubborn,” James said.

“It's like talking to a brick wall. No matter how many cherries you put on the cake, the brick wall still doesn't talk back.

“We have now sent legal correspondence, a pre-claim letter, letting them know that we are prepared to go to the High Court for a judicial review.”

James said his team is pursuing a court order that no one else be allowed to dig on the land and seeking damages for Bitcoin's full appreciation.

He said: “As of today, my bitcoin is worth £275 million.

“It could bankrupt Newport City Council and that is not my goal here.

“My goal is to dig for my property and get my hard drive in an environmentally friendly way.

“The cost of Bitcoin is not my fault. If the value continues to increase by the time this case goes to trial, we could be looking at a £1 billion lawsuit.”

James said his lawyers first contacted Newport Council in September last year and the council responded that he had no claim to the property because it had been dumped.

But James says that because his former partner threw away the Bitcoin, she was not acting with his permission and the council should recognize this.

He is supported in his claim by a group of financiers who have assembled a team of experts to assist in the possible search and data recovery.

James believes the search would take nine to 12 months and would be supported by specially used AI technology.

He previously said: “I have put together a full consortium of experts in this field to refute all the claims that the council says it has concerns about.

“I spoke with data recovery experts who worked with NASA on the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster.

“They were able to recover from an exploding shuttle and they don't seem to think being in a landfill will be a problem.”

James, from Newport, says he has studied aerial photographs of the site and believes the hard drive is in an area of ​​200 square meters and could be 15 meters deep.

The municipality of Nieuwpoort has been approached for comment.

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