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James Holder, co-founder of the clothing brand Superdry, stands accused of rape following an incident after a night out, a court has been told. According to testimony at Gloucester Crown Court, the 54-year-old man was heavily intoxicated on the evening of 6 May 2022. A taxi had been arranged to take Holder and a friend back to his home in the Cotswolds after they spent time drinking in Cheltenham.
However, rather than going directly home, Holder and his companion exited their initially booked taxi and instead got into a different taxi. This second vehicle belonged to the woman who later made allegations against Holder concerning events at her flat in Cheltenham. Holder has denied all charges, which include rape and assault by penetration.
A witness recounted that Holder had spent part of the evening at a bar called Gin and Juice with friends and colleagues. As the venue began closing around midnight, she arranged a taxi to take Holder and his friend home and secured a separate taxi for the complainant. The witness reported that Holder expressed, “I am not going home,” after getting into the taxi she had flagged for him. Subsequently, both men left that taxi and entered the complainant’s taxi. The witness recalled informing the driver that there were “two drops,” indicating multiple passengers to be dropped off.
Concerned for the complainant’s welfare, the witness made phone calls approximately 30 to 45 minutes after the woman’s taxi departed. Contact was eventually made when Holder’s friend answered the phone. When the phone was passed to the woman, she declined an offer to stay at the witness’s house. The witness described feeling uneasy during the brief conversation due to the woman’s apparent intoxication.
The next day, the witness visited the complainant and observed that she had prepared a makeshift bed on the floor because Holder had fallen asleep on her bed. The woman reportedly told the witness that Holder had woken her after 2 a.m. to ask for the bathroom and that she somehow ended up sharing her bed with him. The witness recounted the complainant saying, “somehow, they started kissing,” and questioned whether she was comfortable with this, calling it “unusual.” The woman indicated that, despite not wanting to engage, sexual activity between her and Holder occurred.
Holder contests the allegations, maintaining that any sexual activity was consensual. During the trial, a transcript of a police interview was read in which Holder detailed the encounter from his perspective, describing consensual sexual intercourse with the woman
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