Recorder David Chidgey, sitting at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday, jailed Holder for eight years, describing the offence as \u201ca despicable piece of sexual violence\u201d.<\/p>\n
The judge said: \u201cIt was about entitlement, it was about your sense of entitlement and your sense of doing what you wanted and your causal disregard for the victim\u2019s absolute right to say what she wanted to do with her own body.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Holder, who appeared by videolink from HMP Hewell wearing a grey sweatshirt and jogging bottoms, did not react as the sentence was passed.<\/p>\n
His trial heard that the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked in the early hours of May 7 2022 after a night out at a bar in Cheltenham.<\/p>\n
The judge said Holder and his friend were due to take their own taxi but instead climbed into the back of another taxi which was taking the woman home.<\/p>\n
He told Holder this was the \u201cfirst evidence which spoke to your attitude and your intentions\u201d.<\/p>\n
The men went into the woman\u2019s home, where Holder attacked her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou ignored her pleas to stop and ignored the fact that she was crying,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
He ordered Holder to pay prosecution costs of \u00a35,000.<\/p>\n
The judge paid tribute to the woman\u2019s bravery, describing how she had given evidence in person and without a screen.<\/p>\n
![\"Tthe](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5071152_3_articleinline_4cce2a94-986e-4675-b7c5-3d88ba1b5b1c.jpg\" "\\"Tthe")
Tthe co-founder of clothing firm Superdry, James Holder, 54, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, who has been jailed at Bristol Crown Court for eight years after being convicted of raping a woman after a night out drinking. Picture: Gloucestershire Constabulary\/PA Wire<\/p>\n
During the hearing, she read a victim personal statement to the court.<\/p>\n
She told Holder: \u201cFour years to the day since you chose to take what was never yours \u2013 my choice, my dignity, my body.<\/p>\n
\u201cFour years since you raped me. I will not soften that word to make it easier for you or anyone else to hear, it belongs to the truth of your actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am still here, still standing, still reclaiming every part of myself you tried to take. The weight of what happened should be yours to carry, not mine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The woman continued: \u201cYou entered my home uninvited. You ignored my repeated pleas to stop, acting as though you were entitled to continue your attack on my body.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said her home, where she should have been safe, was \u201ccompletely violated\u201d by Holder\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
Representing Holder, Michelle Heeley KC said her client had one previous conviction for drink-driving which happened after the rape.<\/p>\n
She told how Holder had co-founded Superdry and \u201cbuilt a brand that has employed thousands of people\u201d, including many from disadvantaged backgrounds.<\/p>\n
The court received a letter from Holder\u2019s wife, who is \u201cfully supportive of her husband\u201d, setting out the impact of his conviction on his family, Ms Heeley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Holder intends to work hard while in custody,\u201d she told the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has already inquired about holding training workshops to teach fashion and design, giving practical skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe recognises he will be there for a period of time and wants to use his time productively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is, for a man like Mr Holder, any amount of time in custody is going to be difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a target because of the matter being in the press, but also the suggestion that he has money. That makes him a target in custody.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside court, Detective Constable Elle MacLeod of Gloucestershire Constabulary paid tribute to the woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has not only fought to achieve justice for herself but she has potentially prevented other individuals from becoming victims of sexual violence committed by Holder,\u201d Det Con MacLeod said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough no sentence will undo the damage done by Holder on that night, I hope it goes some way to delivering justice for her.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A co-founder of clothing firm Superdry has been jailed for eight years after being convicted of raping a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[78269,9,10,27,13,14,6,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-475778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-violence-against-women","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-courts","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-latest-news","16":"tag-latestnews","17":"tag-main-news","18":"tag-mainnews","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-top-stories","21":"tag-topstories","22":"tag-world","23":"tag-world-news","24":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116542506673023711","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}