Multi-millionaire James Holder, 54, had gone back to his victim’s home uninvited after a night in Cheltenham, and attacked her after waking from a short nap on her bed
James Holder outside Cirencester Court during his trial(Image: Tom Wren / SWNS)
The co-founder of clothing firm Superdry has been jailed for raping a woman after a night out drinking.
Multi-millionaire James Holder, 54, raped the woman in the early hours of May 7, 2022, after a night out at a bar in Cheltenham. Holder and a friend had gone back to her home uninvited, and he attacked her after waking from a nap on her bed.
He has now been jailed at Bristol Crown Court for eight years.
The businessman earlier denied charges of assault by penetration and rape, saying any sexual activity that took place between him and the woman was consensual. A jury acquitted Holder of assault by penetration, but found him guilty of rape following a trial last week in Cirencester.
Giving evidence, the victim said she was crying and asking the married father-of-two to stop, but he carried on.
Holder had beckoned the woman, who was trying to sleep in the lounge, into her bedroom and raped her after he woke up from a nap on her bed, the court heard. The ordeal ended when she managed to escape the bedroom, and Holder left her home a short time later.
During an earlier hearing, the court was told that Holder was “old school and chivalrous” towards women and “adored sex”.
He told the jury that the woman had kissed him first and it was “evident what she wanted to happen”. He said: “We walked to the bedroom, which was about a minute away […] and began kissing again.”
He told the court the complainant performed oral sex on him before they progressed to consensual sexual intercourse, but stopped when she said it was becoming painful. “I did not see or hear her crying at any point,” he said.
Under cross-examination, Holder denied the reason he had gone to the woman’s home was that he “saw an opportunity to have sex with her”.
James Haskell, prosecuting, asked: “You saw something you wanted and you took it, because the truth is that when you got to the doorway of the living room you said something like: ‘What’s happening, is everything all right?’ as you wanted to entice her to the bedroom and that’s why you said: ‘Can you show me?’
“It ended because she managed to escape off the bed.”
Holder replied: “That’s not correct. She fell straight to sleep. She was fast asleep, so I popped my clothes on and left.”
Mr Haskell asked: “Is the truth that it suddenly dawned on you of the reality of what you had just done, and you wanted to get out of the flat as soon as possible?” Holder replied: “No, not true.”
The woman denied suggestions from Holder’s barrister that she had initiated the encounter. “He forced me to try and perform oral sex on him,” she said.
Michelle Heeley KC, defending, said: “Sex lasted for approximately 20 minutes.” The woman replied: “I call it rape.”
Ms Heeley suggested: “This was a drunken sexual encounter that you regret?” She replied: “Incorrect.”
The woman read out a statement in court in which she said Holder had acted as if he was “entitled”.
She said: “You chose to take what was never yours – my choice, my dignity, my body. It is four years since you raped me. I have not softened that word to make it easier for you or anyone else to hear.
“I am still here, still standing, still re-claiming every part of myself you tried to take. The weight of what happened should be yours to carry, not mine. What you did to me did not end that day.
“It has followed me into my relationships, it has cast shadows where there should only be light. I have struggled to see the good in myself at times and at times failed to recognise the value I bring.”
She told the court that the weight of what Holder did had felt overwhelming at times. “You took advantage of my vulnerability. You entered my home uninvited. You ignored my repeated pleas to stop acting as though you were entitled to continue an attack on my body. My home was violated by your actions.”
Holder co-founded Superdry with business partner Julian Dunkerton in 2003. The brand began as a market stall in Cheltenham before its physical store was opened in Covent Garden, London, in 2004. Today, Superdry has stores across the world, including more than 60 in the UK.
Superdry has said Holder no longer held any position at the company at the time of the offence.
