Superdry co-founder jailed by UK court for eight years for rape
A jury found James Holder, 54, guilty last week of raping a woman in 2022 after meeting her in a bar in Cheltenham.
Co-founder of clothing firm Superdry James Holder, is escorted by a police officer as he leaves Cirencester Magistrates' Court, England, on May 1, 2026. (File photo: AP/Rod Minchin)
LONDON: The co-founder of British fashion brand Superdry, James Holder, was sentenced to eight years in jail for rape on Thursday (May 7) at a court in southwest England.
A jury found Holder, 54, guilty last week of raping a woman in 2022 after meeting her in a bar in Cheltenham.
Judge David Chidgey described the rape by the multimillionaire fashion boss as "a despicable piece of sexual violence".
"It was about your sense of entitlement and your sense of doing what you wanted and your casual disregard for the victim's absolute right to say what she wanted to do with her own body," Chidgey told Bristol Crown Court.
Holder was one of the co-founders of Superdry in 2003, but left the group in 2016.
The streetwear brand was delisted from the London Stock Exchange in 2024 after announcing a drop in sales and has rebranded as Superdry & Co.
