Oxford News
Superdry co-founder denies raping woman in Cotswolds
James Holder, 54, said the woman kissed him first, and it was “evident what she wanted to happen”.
Gloucester Crown Court heard the multimillionaire businessman was “old school and chivalrous” towards women and “adored sex”.
Holder had been out on the evening of May 6, 2022, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and was due to get a taxi back to his mansion in the Cotswolds with a male friend.
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Instead, the pair got into the complainant’s taxi and went to her flat, where she alleges she was raped by the fashion boss.
Holder told the jury he had got out of the first taxi because he “just didn’t want the party to stop”.
He said at the woman’s home, she offered him a drink, which he declined, and put on music, before he went to the toilet and then fell asleep on her bed.
The defendant said he awoke and went to the living room, where his friend was asleep on the sofa, and the complainant was awake, sitting in a chair.
“I asked her if everything was OK, and she said absolutely fine, she was awake,” Holder told the court.
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“As she walked over to me – at that exact moment – we began kissing. I would say it was a maximum of five minutes.
“We walked to the bedroom, which was about a minute away, and walked into the bedroom and began kissing again.”
Holder said he was wearing very tight trousers, which required both his hands to remove, so he could not have been restraining the complainant at the same time.
He told the court the complainant performed oral sex on him before they progressed to consensual sexual intercourse, but stopped when she said it was becoming painful.
Michelle Heeley KC, defending, asked Holder whether the woman was crying at any stage.
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“I did not see or hear her crying at any point,” he said.
Asked why he left the flat a short time later, Holder replied: “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.”
Miss Heeley asked him about his belief in her consent, and he replied: “Completely full consent.”
The court heard Holder learnt of the rape allegation in November 2022 when he was interviewed by detectives.
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Describing that interview, Holder said: “I was in extreme physical and mental shock. I personally felt that the allegation was so foreign and in direct contradiction to what happened.
“I went into complete meltdown, a nosebleed, and bawling like a baby – complete shock.”
In that interview, Holder told police he was “old school and chivalrous” in relation to women, and also “adored sex”.
James Haskell, prosecuting, asked the defendant in cross-examination: “Did you behave in a chivalrous manner towards her that night?”
He replied: “I did, yes. I looked after her throughout the whole evening.”
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The prosecutor asked: “You said that your instinct was to protect women. Did you protect her that night?”
Holder replied: “At the only indication of any level of discomfort, I stopped immediately. I would say that could be a protective instinct.”
Mr Haskell asked why he had got into the complainant’s taxi and gone to her home without first discussing it with her.
He said: “Are you somebody who is used to doing precisely what they want to?”
“No, I am not, actually,” Holder replied.
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Mr Haskell asked: “Is the real reason you wanted to go back to the flat is because you saw an opportunity to have sex with her?”
Holder replied: “No.”
Asked how the encounter began, Holder replied: “She inserted her tongue in my mouth, and it was very evident what she wanted to happen.”
Mr Haskell asked: “You saw something you wanted and you took it because the truth is that when you got to the doorway of the living room, you said something like, ‘What’s happening, is everything all right?’ as you wanted to entice her to the bedroom, and that’s why you said, ‘Can you show me?’
“It ended because she managed to escape off the bed.”
Holder replied: “That’s not correct. She fell straight to sleep. She was fast asleep, so I popped my clothes on and left.”
The defendant was asked: “Is the truth that it suddenly dawned on you of the reality of what you had just done, and you wanted to get out of the flat as soon as possible?”
Holder replied: “No, not true.”
The defendant, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, denies charges of rape and assault by penetration.
The trial continues.
Environmental charity Earth Trust shared a video of the remnants of a barbecue still smouldering and surrounded by litter and burnt wood at historic chalk beech mounds the Wittenham Clumps in South Oxfordshire.
The fire, discovered on Friday, August 8, came just a day after the charity warned people about the dangers of barbecues at the green space during the extreme drought the county is facing, as ‘a single spark could develop into a wildfire’.
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A spokesperson for Earth Trust said: “The reality is that one small fire could easily burn through the whole of the Clumps and Bessie’s Field grasslands.
“It could spread into the hedgerows, damage the woodlands, and cause real, lasting harm to the archaeology of Castle Hill.
“A disposable BBQ might look harmless. A few glowing embers might seem like nothing. But in dry grassland, that is all it takes.
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“Please do not bring BBQs or light fires at the Clumps or any of our nature reserves. Take your litter home. Leave no trace.
“If you see vegetation on fire, no matter how small, call 999 immediately and ask for the fire service. Do not put yourself at risk.”
People are asked to bring picnics instead, take all litter home, leave no trace on the landscape and report any signs of fire immediately to protect the iconic landscape.
The former UK Prime Minister, who lives just outside of Wallingford with his family, was paying tribute to Rod Liddle in a new article in The Spectator following the broadcaster’s death.
Mr Liddle died on Sunday, August 2, after a short illness and having spent his career in journalism and Mr Johnson has now paid tribute to him.
In his Spectator piece, the former Henley MP wrote: “Look at what has happened to free speech in the last couple of decades: J.K. Rowling all but cancelled just for saying a woman is a woman; the cops knocking on your door for non-crime hate incidents; students banning brilliant minds from their campuses; endless ridiculous ‘content warnings’; people fired just for a stray comment on the internet.
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“It’s mad, and yet more and more journalists have been invisibly capitulating. We have been toning it down, cutting that joke, sandpapering things to avoid getting into trouble.
“Not Rod Liddle. In the last few years he seemed to become more and more exceptional: still blazing away from his lonely but glorious redoubt.”
Ms Rowling, who wrote all the books in the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, has told of her growing “fury” after a leading human rights charity branded the sexual violence support centre she founded “anti-rights”.
The sector’s watchdog has confirmed it is investigating the matter.
The Harry Potter author said she is willing to support legal action on the issue, after a report published by Amnesty International UK listed Beira’s Place alongside several other organisations described as “gender critical” and classed as “anti-rights”.
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The list also named For Women Scotland, which won a Supreme Court case in April 2025, which saw judges at the UK’s highest court rule that the term “woman” in the Equality Act refers to a biological woman.
Beira’s Place was established in Edinburgh in 2022 by Rowling to provide women-only support for women who have experienced sexual violence.
Rowling posted on X on Friday: “Amnesty’s attack on Beira’s Place has left me burning with the kind of fury that mounts with every passing hour.”
She had previously stated that Amnesty had made a “massive error of judgment” if it believed “organisations it has attacked will be unwilling to go to court”.
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She added: “They underestimate both the solidarity that exists between the targeted organisations and my willingness to support legal action, not just on behalf of Beira’s Place, but for all women’s and LGB organisations falsely branded ‘anti-rights’.”
The Charity Commission said on Thursday that it was looking into the issue and confirmed on Friday that it had opened a case into the matter; however, it has not yet taken the step of opening a formal inquiry.
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “We have opened a regulatory compliance case to further assess concerns raised with us about a briefing published by Amnesty International UK Charitable Trust.
“As part of this, we will be engaging with the charity’s trustees to gather more information.”
The commission, which regulates charities in England and Wales, also said the charity had referred itself to the watchdog by submitting a serious incident report.
Caroline, whose surname has not been released, was last seen on Shilton Road in Burford, West Oxfordshire, at about 2am on Wednesday, August 5.
More than 60 hours later, police are still searching for the 66-year-old woman and are trying to establish where she was last seen, and helicopters from the National Police Air Service have been assisting in searching the area.
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Thames Valley Police released a new image on Friday, August 8, a CCTV footage still believed to show Caroline on Oxford Road, opposite Burford Road, at about 5.27am on the morning of her disappearance.
A statement released along with the image said: “We understand the quality of the image is poor, but we are sharing it because we are doing everything we can to establish Caroline’s movements and locate her safely.
“We hope that someone may recognise her, remember seeing her, or have information that could help our enquiries.
“We continue to ask residents in Burford and the surrounding areas, as well as any motorists who travelled through this area at around 5.30am, to check any CCTV, doorbell, dashcam or other footage they may have.
“Even the smallest detail could prove vital to our enquiries.
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“We would like to thank everyone who has shared our appeals and contacted us with information so far.
“The support from the local community has been invaluable, and we continue to appeal for anyone who may have seen Caroline, or who recalls anything unusual during those early morning hours, to come forward.”
Anyone with information should contact police quoting reference number 43260403808, and anyone who sees the missing woman is asked to call 999.
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