Superdry co-founder James Holder sentenced to eight years in prison for rape

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Superdry co-founder James Holder was sentenced to eight years in prison by a UK court on Thursday for raping a woman in May 2022.

Holder, 54, was found guilty last week by a jury at Gloucester Crown Court (south-west England) of raping the woman when he accompanied her to her flat after meeting her in a bar.

He had pleaded not guilty and attended Thursday's hearing from the prison where he is being held.

Announcing the sentence, the judge stated that Holder had demonstrated a “sense of omnipotence”, believing he “could do whatever he wanted” in “disregard” of the victim's feelings.

Holder founded the Superdry brand with Julian Dunkerton in 2003, which they developed in the UK and then internationally. He was notably in charge of creative direction until he left the group in 2016.

Superdry's official statement is as follows

"James Holder resigned as a director and employee of Superdry in 2016. The offence for which he has been convicted relates to events in 2022, long after any role with Superdry had ended. The case does not involve Superdry, its premises, employees or business activity, and Superdry was not a party to the court proceedings. Our thoughts are with the victim. Superdry has no further comment.”

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

James Holder