Superdry co-founder James Holder jailed for eight years over rape of woman

The co-founder of fashion brand Superdry has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being found guilty of raping a woman after a night out drinking.

James Holder, 54, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, had returned to the woman’s home and after going to the toilet fell asleep in her bed, snoring.

Holder then woke up and called the woman, who was trying to sleep in his living room, into his bedroom and raped her.

The multimillionaire fashion mogul denied the rape charge, claiming the sexual activity was consensual, but was convicted by a jury at Cirencester Courthouse last week.

Recorder David Chidgey, sitting at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday, jailed Holder for eight years for the crime, describing it as a “despicable piece of sexual violence”.

The judge said: “This was about entitlement, it was about your sense of entitlement, your sense of doing what you wanted and your causal disregard for the victim’s absolute right to say what she wanted to do with her own body.”

Holder, who appeared via video link from HMP Hewell wearing a gray sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms, showed no reaction as the sentence was handed down.

More to follow…