SUPERDRY CO-FOUNDER ACCUSED OF RAPING WOMAN
Update 07/05/2026: The co-founder of the fashion retailer Superdry has been sentenced to eight years in prison following a conviction for raping a woman after an evening out.James Holder, aged 54 and from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was convicted of rape last week, although he was cleared of a charge of assault by penetration.
At Bristol Crown Court on Thursday, the judge described Holder’s actions as part of "a despicable incident of sexual violence".
During the trial at Gloucester Crown Court in Cirencester, jurors heard that Holder and an acquaintance returned to the woman's home without invitation after a night at a Cheltenham pub.
The defendant, a wealthy fashion entrepreneur, reportedly went to the toilet and took a nap on her bed.
Later, he enticed the woman, who was trying to sleep in the living room, into her bedroom where he committed the assault early on 7 May 2022.
The woman testified that she was crying and pleading for Holder, who was married with two children, to stop, but he ignored her pleas.
The assault concluded when she managed to escape from the bedroom, and Holder left her residence shortly afterward.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The co-founder of clothing company Superdry raped a woman after a night out drinking, a court has been told.
James Holder, 54, went back to the woman's home after a night out in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in 2022 and then fell asleep on her bed.
Gloucester Crown Court, sitting in Cirencester, was told the fashion boss then woke up, beckoned the woman, who was trying to sleep in the lounge, into her bedroom and raped her.
Holder, from Cheltenham, denies charges of rape and assault by penetration.
Warning: This story contains distressing details.
The court was told when Holder woke up at the woman's flat, he told her to join him in the bedroom.
"She said no, she was tired, and she said he pulled her on the bed," Haskell added.
"She said that he continued to touch her.
She described him pulling off her lower clothing.
She said she tried to stop him.
From time to time he would say sorry but then carried on.
She was telling him to stop.
At one point she remembered starting to cry but even then he didn't stop," Haskell added.
The court was told the woman managed to escape from him and left the bedroom, and it was not long before Holder left.
The woman later reported the allegations to the police and gave a video-recorded interview to detectives in July 2022.
"You will hear some voice note messages she sent to her friends and you might think she was pretty drunk by the end of the night," Haskell said.
"The prosecution say that because of her intoxication she was more vulnerable.
It is the prosecution case that James Holder exploited that vulnerability." The trial continues.
