Superdry co-founder James Holder jailed for eight years for raping woman

A co-founder of the clothing company Superdry has been jailed for eight years for raping a woman after a night out in Cheltenham.

James Holder, 54, had been due to get a taxi back to his home in the Cotswolds with a male friend. Instead, the pair got into the victim’s taxi and went to her flat in the Gloucestershire town, where Holder raped her.

A jury heard the woman asked Holder to stop but he did not, even when she began crying. The court heard she was more vulnerable because she was intoxicated.

Holder, of Cheltenham, had accepted that sexual activity took place in May 2022 but claimed at his trial it was consensual.

Holder’s victim read out a statement in court in which she said he 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 said the weight of what he 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.”

A jury at Gloucester crown court, sitting in Cirencester, found Holder guilty of rape last week. The recorder David Chidgey dismissed Holder’s application for bail to get his affairs in order and say goodbye to his family before his sentencing, saying he considered him too much of a flight risk owing to his “significant resources”.

A student of graphic design, Holder founded the skateboarding and BMX fashion label Bench. In 2003, he co-founded Superdry with the clothing entrepreneur Julian Dunkerton as a market stall in Cheltenham.

In 2004, the pair opened the brand’s first physical store in Covent Garden, London. It now has stores all over the world, including more than 60 in the UK.

Superdry has said Holder no longer had any role at the company at the time of the offence.

• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html