A UN judge has been convicted of forcing a young woman to work as a slave who she “exploited and abused”.
Lydia Mugambe, 49, took “advantage of her status” over the victim in the “most egregious way” by preventing her from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid and to provide childcare without payment, prosecutors said.
Mugambe, who is also a high court judge in Uganda, was found guilty on Thursday of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness after a trial at Oxford crown court.
Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial: “Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused [the victim], taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to properly paid employment and deceiving her as to the purpose of her coming to the UK.”
Jurors accepted the prosecution’s case that Mugambe – who was studying for a law PhD at the University of Oxford – had engaged in “illegal folly” by arranging for the young woman to come to the UK.
The trial heard that Mugambe had the intention of “obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself”.
Mugambe denied forcing the young Ugandan woman to do household chores and said she “always” treated her with love, care and patience.
But the young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had told the court she felt “lonely” and “stuck” because her working hours elsewhere were limited.
Haughey told the court: “On her arrival she was made to work for Lydia Mugambe from the very start, unremunerated and acting as maid and for childcare to give Mugambe back her life.
“Deprived of her freedom to choose her own work, to control her ID documents, she was beholden to Lydia Mugambe.”
She added: “A young woman brought in for the convenience of Ms Mugambe’s life but mistreated – mistreated by Ms Mugambe, a woman of power and intelligence who had no qualms in lying to not only to [the victim] but to the police when they sought to ensure her safety and wellbeing.”
According to her profile on the UN website, Mugambe was appointed to the body’s judicial roster in May 2023 – three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire.
