James Holder, the 54-year-old co-founder of the prominent clothing firm Superdry, has been found guilty of raping a woman following a night out in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. A jury at Gloucester Crown Court, sitting in Cirencester, acquitted Holder of assault by penetration but delivered a guilty verdict on the charge of rape.

The court heard that the incident occurred in the early hours of May 7, 2022. Holder, a multi-millionaire fashion boss, had been scheduled to take a taxi to his Cotswolds mansion with a male friend. Instead, he and his friend entered the victim's taxi and proceeded to her flat, uninvited. The prosecution, led by James Haskell, stated that the woman was vulnerable due to intoxication.

Once at the flat, Holder reportedly went to the toilet and then fell asleep on the victim's bed, snoring. He later woke up and beckoned the woman, who was attempting to sleep in the lounge, into her bedroom. The victim testified that during the sexual activity that ensued, she asked Holder to stop and began crying, but he continued. She explicitly denied the defense's suggestion that it was merely a "drunken sexual encounter that she regret[ted]," affirming, "Incorrect." The victim also stated that Holder "forced me to try and perform oral sex on him," and unequivocally referred to the act as "rape" when the defense suggested sex lasted approximately 20 minutes.

Holder, a married father-of-two, had denied the charges, insisting that the sexual activity was consensual. In a police interview, he described himself as "old-school and chivalrous" and maintained in court that he had behaved in a chivalrous manner towards the woman throughout the evening. He claimed she had kissed him first and it was "evident what she wanted to happen," further asserting they walked to the bedroom and began kissing again. Holder testified that the complainant performed oral sex on him before consensual sexual intercourse, which he claimed stopped when she said it was becoming painful. He denied seeing or hearing her cry at any point.

Under cross-examination, Holder was questioned about why he left the flat a short time after the incident. He explained, "I had been out for much longer than I anticipated and I needed to go home. I let myself out. She was asleep on the bed." However, the prosecution challenged this, suggesting Holder saw an opportunity to have sex with her and tried to entice her to the bedroom. Mr. Haskell posited, "It ended because she managed to escape off the bed." Holder refuted this, claiming she fell straight to sleep, prompting him to get dressed and leave. He also denied the prosecution's suggestion that the reality of what he had done dawned on him, leading him to want to leave as soon as possible.

Holder, of Cheltenham, has been remanded into custody pending his sentencing. Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues are available from various organizations, including Rape Crisis in the UK, Rainn in the US, and 1800Respect in Australia.