Caroline has worked in the legal sector for 23 years. She is a Solicitor in our Child Abuse Compensation department.
Switalskis Solicitors Ltd
19 Cheapside
Wakefield
WF1 2SD
Caroline specialises in child abuse litigation including:
Caroline has specialist expertise in pursuing cases against detention centres for assaults against detainees committed in the 1970s and 1980s.
Alongside the wider Abuse team, Caroline has helped over 400 men get compensation for the assaults they were subjected to at many other detention centres and we are now focusing our aim at getting compensation for the men assaulted at the Eastwood Park detention centre .
HMP Eastwood Park, Falfield, South Gloucestershire was a junior Detention Centre for boys, opened from 1964 till 1995. There have been numerous allegations of abuse by Prison Officers at this detention centre.
Among the abusive former prison officers, Patrick Devaney was convicted of offences against detainees in 2023. We act for over 100 men who suffered physical and sometimes sexual abuse at Eastwood Park.
It has been confirmed that the Eastwood Park Detention Centre Compensation Scheme is shortly due to commence following a meeting with the Ministry of Justice. Compensation will be paid to ex-detainees who were physically abused / assaulted whilst serving their sentence. Find out more here.
Caroline is a Legal Aid supervising solicitor and a member of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers. She is also Assistant Coroner in Bradford.
Caroline is an experienced child abuse solicitor having worked in this area since 2000. Her caring and sensitive approach to her clients and determination to achieve justice for survivors has brought closure to many individuals who have been through the most horrendous abuse.
Caroline has been the point of contact for the young offender institution complaints for the team, including Medomsley Detention Centre, Kirk Levington and Eastwood Park. She successfully negotiated the first non-adversarial scheme with the Ministry of Justice to compensate individuals who were mistreated during their sentence and continues to campaign for survivors of abuse.
“I would like to take this opportunity to say how well Caroline Chandler has handled my application with efficiency and sensitivity from start to finish. It has been very difficult to have to rehash the past after all these years, but I do understand what a major job it has been for all concerned.”
Child Abuse Compensation Client
Switalskis has started to receive offers to settle claims for a large number of clients seeking compensation under a Ministry of Justice compensation scheme that pays compensation to applicants who were physically abused / assaulted whilst serving sentences – Detention Centre Orders – at Eastwood Park Detention Centre. The Scheme officially opened in January 2025.
It has been confirmed that the Eastwood Park Detention Centre Compensation Scheme will shortly commence following a meeting held with the Ministry of Justice. Compensation will be paid to ex-detainees who were physically abused or assaulted whilst serving their sentence.
We are pleased to announce that Caroline Chandler, solicitor in our Child Abuse Compensation team has been appointed as Assistant Coroner for Bradford.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has embarked on an investigation into harm done to detainees at Medomsley Detention Centre in County Durham. My hope is that their findings lead to a wider possibly public inquiry into state sponsored violence against detainees between 1965 and 1995 in the country’s young offender institutions.