A judge from the United Nations was shocked when police arrested her in her Oxfordshire home on February 10, 2023, for allegedly forcing a young woman to work as her slave.
Lydia Mugambe, 49, appeared surprised and told officers, “I have immunity,” while insisting she was not a criminal. She also claimed she was a judge in her country and held a diplomatic passport.
Police footage of her arrest was released as she was found guilty at Oxford Crown Court of forcing someone to work, bringing a person to the UK for exploitation, and trying to intimidate a witness.
Mugambe, who was studying law at the University of Oxford, allegedly tricked the victim into coming to the UK in July 2022 by offering her a job as a childminder. However, prosecutors argued that Mugambe had no intention of paying her fairly and instead treated her as an unpaid housemaid.
The case revealed that she worked with Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa to arrange the woman’s visa under false pretenses. The woman was supposed to work in a diplomatic household, but instead, she was made to work for Mugambe without proper pay.
The victim later managed to escape and was found in a store in Oxford, leading to an investigation. Prosecutors accused Mugambe of taking advantage of the woman’s lack of knowledge about her rights and using her to make life easier at the lowest possible cost.
The court heard that when the victim questioned Mugambe’s control over her, she was threatened with being sent back to Uganda.
The jury found Mugambe guilty of multiple charges, including immigration law violations, forced labor, and witness intimidation.
Watch the video below:
@dailymail A United Nations judge gasped and insisted ‘I have immunity’ as she was arrested for forcing a young woman to work as her slave. Prosecutors said Lydia Mugambe, 49, took ‘advantage of her status’ over her 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 for free. 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. Read the full story at DailyMail.com. Link in bio. #news #un #uk #unitednations #uganda
