Gransnet forums

News & politics

The Guy Who Wanted Newport Council To Allow Him....

(49 Posts)
mae13 Thu 09-Jan-25 15:56:49

.......to excavate a landfill site, and it's hundreds of tons of detritus, to find a hard drive containing a Bitcoin wallet has lost his case.

The girlfriend of James Howells disposed of the aforesaid hard drive and he's been trying since 2013 to convince the council it's in the landfill site. And he needs to excavate all that rubbish to find it as it would be worth squillions - if it exists, of course.

He didn't convince the judge, unsurprisingly.

62Granny Thu 09-Jan-25 16:29:27

Even if he was allowed all how on earth would you find it after all this time a computer hard drive is only about the size of an A5 sheet of paper.

Jaxjacky Thu 09-Jan-25 17:19:45

I imagine his girlfriend may well be an ex now

Allira Thu 09-Jan-25 17:35:49

Jaxjacky

I imagine his girlfriend may well be an ex now

He put it in a black bin bag so that is why she threw it out.

In December last year, Newport Council asked a High Court judge to strike out his legal action to either access the landfill or get £495m in compensation.

Compensation from the Council?

He was foolish to put it in a bin bag in the first place, perhaps his girlfriend should have double-checked before she threw it out but it wasn't necessarily her fault.
Yes, she is an ex! Perhaps she finished the relationship?

Now Mr Howells wants to take his case to the Supreme Court.
Is this on a no win, no fee basis, I wonder?

Oreo Thu 09-Jan-25 19:19:33

Just packing my bag and grabbing a spade…..💴💶💷💰

Allira Thu 09-Jan-25 19:42:02

😀

I wouldn't know what to do with it if I found it!

keepingquiet Thu 09-Jan-25 20:08:40

I thought Bitcoin only existed in cyber-space?

Keep thinking it may well be excavated in thousands of years and the contents put in some sort of cyber museum?

Stroies like this make me realise I've a long way to go before crazy...

Allira Thu 09-Jan-25 20:12:11

keepingquiet

I thought Bitcoin only existed in cyber-space?

Keep thinking it may well be excavated in thousands of years and the contents put in some sort of cyber museum?

Stroies like this make me realise I've a long way to go before crazy...

Being naïve about this, I would have thought someone could access a Bitcoin account using any device?
Surely it exists in cyberspace?

Or is he pulling a fast one, trying to claim compensation from Newport City Council?
🤔

mae13 Fri 10-Jan-25 02:36:20

He, apparently, intends to carry on his legal pursuit of a decision in his favour so I suppose he must be minted anyway to afford the legal fees.

A needle in a haystack project, IMHO.

OldFrill Fri 10-Jan-25 10:20:12

Why doesn't the council work with him to allow this (he's got the backing to pay for it), how much is it costing them to contest it when he's offered to share the proceeds (£millions) with them.

Allira Fri 10-Jan-25 10:26:26

OldFrill

Why doesn't the council work with him to allow this (he's got the backing to pay for it), how much is it costing them to contest it when he's offered to share the proceeds (£millions) with them.

The landfill site is run by a company, not the Council itself.
It's a matter of health and safety, I should imagine.
Should he disappear under a pile of rubbish someone might sue them or should he have an accident he might sue them himself. He sounds quite litigious.

I still don't understand why he has lost access to his account if it is all in cyber-space, but then I've never been tempted to dabble in Bitcoin although I know someone who has and made money. (Not millions though.)

Allira Fri 10-Jan-25 10:29:20

Surely it's like me panicking because my tablet got thrown away and I couldn't access my emails - or Gransnet!
Surely you have an account and can access it via your password and security details like your bank account?

Allira Fri 10-Jan-25 10:35:57

Mr Howells has a new plan 🙂

"Everyone can see the Bitcoin is never going to move. I can't get the private key so it's going to be sat there for eternity. But I believe with a court declaration of ownership, I can tokenise them into a sub-currency. I would become a figurehead for James Coin and it would be marketed as a child currency of Bitcoin. Its value would always be derived from Bitcoin — James Coin's value will go up and down as the market price of Bitcoin goes up and down."

🤔
Can I smell something fishy in the Usk?

Wyllow3 Fri 10-Jan-25 14:31:56

Has April 1st come early?

OldFrill Fri 10-Jan-25 14:57:26

Allira

OldFrill

Why doesn't the council work with him to allow this (he's got the backing to pay for it), how much is it costing them to contest it when he's offered to share the proceeds (£millions) with them.

The landfill site is run by a company, not the Council itself.
It's a matter of health and safety, I should imagine.
Should he disappear under a pile of rubbish someone might sue them or should he have an accident he might sue them himself. He sounds quite litigious.

I still don't understand why he has lost access to his account if it is all in cyber-space, but then I've never been tempted to dabble in Bitcoin although I know someone who has and made money. (Not millions though.)

The landfill is owned by the council which is why they are in court.
He's not going to do the excavating himself, he'll use professionals. He has the backing to do this from hedge funders.
The hard disk contains a unique password in the form of a very long binary code that gives him access to his bitcoin account.

OldFrill Fri 10-Jan-25 15:03:35

Allira

Mr Howells has a new plan 🙂

"Everyone can see the Bitcoin is never going to move. I can't get the private key so it's going to be sat there for eternity. But I believe with a court declaration of ownership, I can tokenise them into a sub-currency. I would become a figurehead for James Coin and it would be marketed as a child currency of Bitcoin. Its value would always be derived from Bitcoin — James Coin's value will go up and down as the market price of Bitcoin goes up and down."

🤔
Can I smell something fishy in the Usk?

Did you read all the article you quoted from? If so l don't know why you think it smells fishy. He's got a hedge fund and a renowned legal team supporting him. I thought "bin coin" instead of "James coin" was quite amusing.

pascal30 Fri 10-Jan-25 15:15:08

I'd never have an on=line only account..

MissInterpreted Fri 10-Jan-25 15:18:58

pascal30

I'd never have an on=line only account..

Not sure how else you would have a Bitcoin account?

Allsorts Fri 10-Jan-25 15:22:49

I do not trust Bitcoin anyway. He's as much chance of finding that disk as I have of becoming Miss World. He must have more money sense.

pascal30 Fri 10-Jan-25 15:30:30

MissInterpreted

pascal30

I'd never have an on=line only account..

Not sure how else you would have a Bitcoin account?

Quite

Allira Fri 10-Jan-25 15:48:21

OldFrill

Allira

Mr Howells has a new plan 🙂

"Everyone can see the Bitcoin is never going to move. I can't get the private key so it's going to be sat there for eternity. But I believe with a court declaration of ownership, I can tokenise them into a sub-currency. I would become a figurehead for James Coin and it would be marketed as a child currency of Bitcoin. Its value would always be derived from Bitcoin — James Coin's value will go up and down as the market price of Bitcoin goes up and down."

🤔
Can I smell something fishy in the Usk?

Did you read all the article you quoted from? If so l don't know why you think it smells fishy. He's got a hedge fund and a renowned legal team supporting him. I thought "bin coin" instead of "James coin" was quite amusing.

The fact remains that he wants to sue a City Council for £495m for something which was not their mistake and which cannot be proved.
None of this may be true.

Newport City Council estimate a deficit of £20 million over the coming financial year so where they would find that £495 million from I domnot know.
I imagine Newport council tax payers wouldn't be too pleased either.

Allira Fri 10-Jan-25 15:54:46

'In 2013 the council received a hard drive and that is all it did and all it ever has done.'

Almost 12 years ago - surely the likelihood of finding it after all this time is nigh on impossible?

Allira Fri 10-Jan-25 15:56:10

OldFrill

Allira

Mr Howells has a new plan 🙂

"Everyone can see the Bitcoin is never going to move. I can't get the private key so it's going to be sat there for eternity. But I believe with a court declaration of ownership, I can tokenise them into a sub-currency. I would become a figurehead for James Coin and it would be marketed as a child currency of Bitcoin. Its value would always be derived from Bitcoin — James Coin's value will go up and down as the market price of Bitcoin goes up and down."

🤔
Can I smell something fishy in the Usk?

Did you read all the article you quoted from? If so l don't know why you think it smells fishy. He's got a hedge fund and a renowned legal team supporting him. I thought "bin coin" instead of "James coin" was quite amusing.

They're supporting him in the hope of receiving a percentage.

4allweknow Sun 12-Jan-25 11:14:47

He should have been signed up to a password management system. He would just need to open the app and find password or use the specially generated by the app password. Silly man!

Farzanah Sun 12-Jan-25 11:19:36

If he lived in my area his bin bag would have been incinerated!
I would have thought few do land fill now.