EXCLUSIVE Family of Ugandan UN judge who was found guilty of modern slavery after forcing young woman to work as her slave blame conviction on cultural differences
The family of a Ugandan United Nations judge found guilty of modern slavery charges today insisted she had been kind to her victim - and blamed her conviction on cultural differences in the UK.
The family of a Ugandan United Nations judge found guilty of modern slavery charges today insisted she had been kind to her victim - and blamed her conviction on cultural differences in the UK.
Lydia Mugambe, 49, treated her victim as an unpaid skivvy, taking advantage of the woman in the most egregious way, a court heard yesterday as the unanimous verdict was delivered.
Authorities were first alerted of the crimes when the victim told a friend about the abuse, who later reported it to police.
Upon Mugambes arrest last year at her home in Kiddlington, Oxfordshire, Mugambe, who was studying for a law PhD at Oxford University, insisted the victim had asked to work for her.
I am a judge in my country. I even have immunity. I am not a criminal. I have a diplomatic passport, she told police officers, before again blaming the victim who she tricked into coming to the UK.
But today, a close family member living in Kampala told MailOnline cultural differences between life in the UK compared to the East African country are to blame.
The culture in the UK and the culture in Africa is different, the family member, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
In Africa you could have three different generations in the same house. It doesnt happen here. This is the difference I am talking about. We all help each other out.
The family of Ugandan United Nations judge Lydia Mugambe, who was found guilty of modern slavery charges, today insisted she had been kind to her victim - and blamed her conviction on cultural differences in the UK
Lydia Mugambe, 49, treated her victim as an unpaid skivvy, taking advantage of the woman in the most egregious way, a court heard yesterday as the unanimous verdict was delivered
The relative claimed that Mugambe had known the victim for 17 years, taking her off the streets before providing her with a home and a paying job looking after her children.
We have known her for so long, all her life. She did not bring her here into slavery, she is here because she wanted a life of her own, they said.
Lydia is a UN judge, she is a humanitarian, she is against all of these sorts of things that she has been accused of. She has helped so many people, so many families.
It is just so disappointing the judgement here, to say that she is guilty of this accusation is bogus.
At Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Mugambe, was found guilty of facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, commissioning the breach of UK immigration law and conspiracy to intimidate a witness.
It came after Thames Valley Police were alerted that the woman was being held as a slave by Mugambe at her address in Brasenose Drive - a rented property, where neighbours say she lived for only a brief period of time.
When confronted about her crimes on February 10 2023, the UN judge told officers: I am a judge in my country. I even have immunity. I am not a criminal. I have a diplomatic passport.
I came here as a student. I dont need anyone to work for me, she added. I didnt come with her, she asked me. Because she has worked at my home before.
Lydia Mugambe, 49, had her eyes wide in disbelief when a policeman confronted her in her Oxfordshire home on February 10, 2023
At one point in the video, Mugambe says: I am a judge in my country. I even have immunity. I am not a criminal. I have a diplomatic passport
The relative said that the victim had her school fees paid for by Mugambe back in Kampala before beginning to work for the family 10 years ago.
The emotional family member claimed that the victim had made up the abuse in a bid to gain asylum.
This girl has been in our family for so long and to come here and say she was a slave because she wants asylum given to her and put my sister in prison is just so unjust, the woman said.
The courts and the jury, the cultural differences and everything that happened. They did not do any investigations. They just concluded that it was because of the status difference between the two of them.
Lydia knew this girl for 17 years. It has not just happened. Lydia brought the young girl off the street into her home to work and help with her kids, in a home, she added.
Now she brought her into a home to give her an education and go back to school. She paid for her school fees in Uganada and invited her here to extend her education.
But then she got the idea that she could stay and do something and this is what happened.
Mugambe was in the dock at Oxford Crown Court yesterday where prosecutors blasted her for taking advantage of the victim in the most egregious way.
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
She was found guilty of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law.
Prosecutor Caroline Haughey KC told jurors: 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 the prosecutions case that Mugambe 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.
Prosecutors said the pair participated in a very dishonest trade-off, in which Mr Mugerwa arranged for the Ugandan High Commission to sponsor the womans entrance into the UK.
In exchange, Mugambe attempted to speak to a judge who was in charge of legal action Mr Mugerwa was named in.
Mugambes trial heard she had the intention of obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself.
She denied forcing the young Ugandan woman to do household chores and said she always treated her with love, care and patience.
The young woman Mugambe tricked into coming to the UK, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court previously she felt lonely and stuck after her working hours were limited.
Oxford Crown Court (pictured) heard when officers arrived at the address, the woman told police that Mugambe would not let her leave the house until she paid her money for her travel to the UK
Jurors accepted the prosecutions case that Mugambe had engaged in illegal folly with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa (pictured), in which they conspired to arrange for the young woman to come to the UK
According to her UN profile page, Mugambe was appointed to the bodys judicial roster in May 2023 - three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire.
Ms Haughey said: Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused the 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.
On her arrival she was made to work for Ms Mugambe from the very start, un-remunerated and acting as maid and child carer to give Ms Mugambe back her life.
Deprived of her freedom to choose her work, to control her ID documents, she was beholden to Lydia Mugambe.
If there was any doubt about this, it can be removed by considering that the minute the victim challenged the defendants authority and tried to have control of her own ID documents, she was threatened with being returned to Uganda.
A young woman brought in for the convenience of Mugambes life but mistreated, mistreated by Lydia Mugambe, a woman of power and intelligence who had no qualms in lying not only to the victim but to the police when they sought to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the victim.
The victim entered the UK on July 9, 2022, the jury was told. Mugambe asked her in March 2022 if she was interested in coming to the UK to be her child minder.
On March 20, 2022, Mugambe attended an event in the Ugandan High Commission in London.
There she met the Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner Mugerwa.
The victims visa sponsorship form showed that she was going to work for the ambassador as a private domestic servant in a diplomatic household under the employ of Mugerwa - the Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner - in North London, the court heard.
The jury heard that on February 10, 2023, Thames Valley Police received a call to an address in Oxfordshire having received a report from a woman claiming the victim was being held as a slave.
Later that day the victim was found in a TK Maxx store in Oxford with the reporting party believing her to be a victim of modern slavery, the prosecutor said.
The jury was told that there were false particulars of employment in her visa sponsorship and the alleged victim was never intended to work at the embassy.
Mugambe treated the alleged victim as an unpaid skivvy, the prosecutor said.
Ms Haughey said: That meeting at the High Commission with the Deputy High Commissioner was the turning point when Lydia Mugambe started an illegal folly with the Deputy High Commissioner to bring the alleged victim into the UK.
The jury returned three unanimous guilty verdicts regarding conspiring to do an act to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-UK national, requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour and conspiring to intimidate a witness.
A majority guilty verdict was returned regarding a fourth charge of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.
John Leonard Mugerwa - who would have had diplomatic immunity - is now back in Uganda.
Mugambe will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on May 2.