Superdry co-founder convicted of assault

A jury at Gloucester Crown Court convicted James Holder, the 54-year-old co-founder of the fashion brand Superdry, of assault following an incident at a woman's flat in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in the early hours of May 7, 2022. The panel of seven men and five women acquitted him of a separate charge of assault by penetration after a five-day trial.

The court heard that Holder and a male friend had joined the woman in her taxi after a night out drinking at a local bar, despite her having arranged separate cabs. They went to her nearby flat, where Holder used the bathroom before falling asleep on her bed. The woman testified that she tried to sleep in the lounge, but Holder later woke, beckoned her to the bedroom, and assaulted her despite her repeated requests to stop and her crying. She said the incident lasted about 20 minutes and ended when she escaped the bedroom. Holder then left the flat shortly afterward.

Holder, a married father of two from Cheltenham, denied the charges and maintained that all sexual activity was consensual. He told the jury the woman had kissed him first and performed oral sex before they had intercourse, which stopped when she said it was painful....