Justice Lydia Mugambe of the High Court has been found guilty of offences related to forcing a young woman work as a slave by a UK court.
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 and to provide free childcare, prosecutors said.
The UK court found her 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.
“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,” the prosecutor told court.
The prosecutor alleged Mugambe, who was studying for a law PhD at the University of Oxford, had conspired with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa to arrange for the young woman 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 Mugambe would attempt to speak to a judge who was in charge of legal action Mr Mugerwa was named in, jurors heard.
She was also found guilty of conspiring to intimidate the woman to withdraw her support for the prosecution, and to have the charges against her dropped.
Jurors accepted the prosecution’s case that Mugambe – who was studying for a law PhD at the University of Oxford – had engaged 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.
Mugambe will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on May 2.
Offenders convicted of such crimes face life imprisonment as the maximum penalty, particularly for serious offences like slavery and trafficking.
