A UN judge has been convicted of forcing a young woman to work as a slave in the UK.

Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe (49) «exploited her status» in relation to the victim by preventing her from having a steady job, while forcing her to work as a domestic servant and provide free childcare, according to the BBC.

Mugambe is also a judge in Uganda’s Supreme Court. She has now been found guilty of conspiring to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel for the purpose of exploitation, compelling labour and conspiring to intimidate a witness.

At the time of her arrest, Mugambe claimed that she had diplomatic immunity and that she had done nothing criminal.

Caroline Haughey of the prosecution told the jury during the trial:

– Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused [the alleged victim], taken advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to a well-paid job and deceived her as to her purpose in coming to the UK.

The prosecution believes Mugambe had conspired with Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa to bring the young woman to the UK, in a «highly dishonest» barter deal, in which Mugerwa arranged for the Ugandan High Commissioner to sponsor the woman’s entry into the country.

Mugambe was appointed a UN judge in May 2023, three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire.

The head of Thames Valley Police in Oxfordshire, Superintendent Ben Clark, said:

– Lydia Mugambe is an extremely qualified lawyer, a Ugandan Supreme Court judge and a judge of the United Nations Criminal Court.

– Any immunity Mugambe may have had as a UN judge has been lifted by the UN Secretary-General.