Lydia Mugambe<\/p>\n
A UN judge has been convicted of forcing a young woman to work as a slave who she \u201cexploited and abused\u201d.<\/p>\n
Lydia Mugambe, 49, took \u201cadvantage of her status\u201d over the victim in the \u201cmost egregious way\u201d by preventing her from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid and to provide childcare without payment, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial: \u201cLydia 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jurors accepted the prosecution\u2019s case that Mugambe \u2013 who was studying for a law PhD at the University of Oxford \u2013 had engaged in \u201cillegal folly\u201d by arranging for the young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to come to the UK.<\/p>\n
The trial heard that Mugambe had the intention of \u201cobtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mugambe denied forcing the young Ugandan woman to do household chores and said she \u201calways\u201d treated her with love, care and patience.<\/p>\n
But the young woman had told the court she felt \u201clonely\u201d and \u201cstuck\u201d because her working hours elsewhere were limited.<\/p>\n
Haughey told the court: \u201cOn 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeprived of her freedom to choose her own work, to control her ID documents, she was beholden to Lydia Mugambe.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cA young woman brought in for the convenience of Ms Mugambe\u2019s life but mistreated \u2013 mistreated by Ms Mugambe, a woman of power and intelligence who had no qualms in lying not only to [the victim] but to the police when they sought to ensure her safety and wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n
In footage of her arrest released by Thames Valley police, Mugambe appeared shocked when an officer said he was arresting her under the Modern Slavery Act.<\/p>\n
She then had a conversation with the officer, in which she said: \u201cI am a judge in my country, I even have immunity. I am not a criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked to reaffirm that she had immunity, she told the officer: \u201cYes, I have a diplomatic passport.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to her profile on the UN website, Mugambe was appointed to the body\u2019s judicial roster in May 2023 \u2013 three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire.<\/p>\n
Mugambe will be sentenced on 2 May<\/p>\n