Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"
A British man’s request to search a landfill for a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin private keys has been rejected by the UK Court of Appeal.
“The appeal request was denied by the Royal Court of Appeal,” Howells stated in a post on the X platform on March 14.
“The great British injustice system has once again revealed itself… The state always protects the state,” the early Bitcoin user added, revealing that his “next stop” will be the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
According to documents shared by Cointelegraph on March 13, UK Royal Court of Appeal Judge Christopher Nugee dismissed Howells' application, stating there was no “real prospect of success” and no “other compelling reason” to support that the case should be heard.
Source: James Howells
Judge Nugee's ruling was made on the basis of High Court Judge Andrew Keyser's dismissal of Howells' application on January 9, when Keyser also found that Howells' case had “no real prospect of success” in a formal trial.
In a message to Cointelegraph, Howells stated that his “final legal option” is to file a lawsuit with the ECHR, claiming that the UK High Court and the UK Court of Appeal violated his property rights and his right to a fair trial under Article 1 and Article 6 of the ECHR's First Protocol.
He said, “The UK authorities want to cover this up, but I will never let them succeed. No matter how long it takes, this matter will not disappear!”
Although the ECHR cannot overturn UK court rulings, if Howells wins, the court's judgment would require UK courts to consider whether their current legislation is in line with ECHR provisions.
In another statement shared with Cointelegraph, Howells indicated that he would submit a lawsuit to the ECHR in the “coming weeks.”
These legal documents follow the Newport City Council's repeated refusals of Howells' request to search the Docksway landfill, the site where Howells' former partner discarded a bag containing the hard drive in 2013.
Howells' 8,000 Bitcoins are currently valued at approximately $660 million. While few anticipated Bitcoin would reach such high values at the time, Howells' case highlights the importance of properly securing self-custodied cryptocurrencies.
Howells appears to be under time pressure, as according to a BBC News report on February 9, the Docksway landfill is expected to close during the UK’s 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Related: After suffering a $4 million liquidation loss, Hyperliquid raises margin requirements.
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