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.