UN judge deceived woman to work as slave while studying for law PhD, court told
Lydia Mugambe is accused of preventing the young Ugandan woman from holding down steady employment due to forced unpaid work.

A United Nations criminal tribunal judge deceived a young woman into coming to the UK to work as her slave while she studied for a PhD in law at the University of Oxford, a court has heard.
Lydia Mugambe is accused of taking “advantage of her status” over her alleged victim in the “most egregious way” by preventing the young Ugandan woman from holding down steady employment and forcing her to work as her maid and to provide childcare for free.
Prosecutors allege that from the outset, Mugambe, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, had the intention of “obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself”.
The 49-year-old is also accused of attempting to “intimidate” her alleged victim into dropping the case – with Mugambe messaging an alleged fellow conspirator to tell the young woman’s pastor: “The police wants to take me to court in like two weeks, but if (she) tells them she has dropped interest they have no case to take to court.”
Oxford Crown Court heard Mugambe told police she had “diplomatic immunity”, through her work as a judge in Uganda and at the UN, when she was cautioned for witness intimidation, and that she could not be arrested.
Jurors were told the Metropolitan Police’s diplomatic team was contacted and confirmed Mugambe had no registered diplomatic immunity in the UK.
She is accused of engaging in “illegal folly” with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa in which they conspired to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK.