UN judge ‘took advantage of her status’ to force young woman to work as a slave

A judge at the United Nations has been found guilty of forcing a woman to clean and provide childcare for free.

Lydia Mugambe, 49, ‘took advantage of her status’ in the ‘most egregious way’ to force her victim to work as a slave, preventing her from maintaining paid work elsewhere.

Mugambe, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, had moved to the UK to study for a law PhD at the University of Oxford.

She and Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa conspired for the young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to come to the UK.

Prosecutors said the pair participated in a ‘very dishonest’ trade-off, in which Mr Mugerwa arranged for the Ugandan High Commission to sponsor the woman’s entrance into the UK, in exchange for Mugambe attempting to speak to a judge who was in charge of legal action Mr Mugerwa was named in.

Mugambe hoped to ‘obtain someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself’, and took advantage of the woman’s lack of knowledge about her rights in the UK.

She denied forcing the young Ugandan woman to do household chores and said she ‘always’ treated her with love, care and patience.

She told her defence lawyer, Paul Raudnitz KC, that she ‘never exploited [the woman] in Uganda, why would I exploit her in the UK?’, speaking through tears at times during the trial.

But her victim told the court she felt ‘lonely’ and ‘stuck’ after her working hours were limited.

Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, told jurorsl: ‘Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused (her alleged 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 that Mugambe had engaged in ‘illegal folly’ with Ugandan Mr Mugerwa in which they conspired to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK.

49-year-old Mugambe 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 following a trial at Oxford crown court.

She appeared unwell and the court was cleared as the verdicts were read out. She will be sentenced at the same court on May 2.

Mugambe was appointed to the UN’s judicial roster in May 2023 – three months after police were called to her home in Oxfordshire. Her term is set to end in 2026.

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