Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe, 49, took “advantage of her status” over her victim by preventing her from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid.
KAMPALA– A Ugandan judge, Lydia Mugambe, 49, has been convicted in a UK court of forcing a young woman to work as a slave. Prosecutors said Mugambe took “advantage of her status” over the woman 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 for free.
Mugambe, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda and a member of the United Nations judicial roster, was found guilty 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 following a trial at Oxford Crown Court.
Prosecutor Caroline Haughey KC told jurors that Mugambe had exploited and abused the young woman, 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.
Mugambe denied forcing the young woman to do household chores and said she “always” treated her with love, care, and patience. However, the court rejected her defence, finding her guilty on all counts.
The young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court she felt “lonely” and “stuck” after her working hours were limited.
According to her UN profile page, Mugambe was appointed to the body’s judicial roster in May 2023 – three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire.
Mugambe had previously told jurors she was “emotional because I was in shock” after she attended a police station voluntarily and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of human trafficking.
Her defence, Paul Raudnitz KC, asked why she was described as emotional at the time, and Mugambe said: “Because I was in shock, I was emotional because I was in shock.”
The court heard that Mugambe sent police a number of prepared statements. Caroline Haughey KC asked the defendant if she lied in this case, and Mugambe replied: “I said yesterday that when the police first came to me I made some misrepresentations, and I acknowledge that.”
Ms Haughey said the Crown says the “misrepresentations are lies”, adding: “They’re not flexible facts, they’re deliberate untruths.”
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