Your entire comment about unknowingly throwing it away equating to lack of explicit consent implies that such consent might not be enough consent for the dump to own it. That is an assumption without which there would be no question.
Write more carefully.
I think I read it was his now ex gf that threw it away, possibly with his permission
Makes no difference in my opinion.
That is an absence of explicit consent. I was right. But how explicit does the consent need to be, and how informed? That is key to the question. I very clearly did not assume that there **was** a _lack_ of consent.
Think more carefully.
