Serve Court Papers on Someone in a UK Prison (HMP)

May 19, 2023 - Reading time: 13 minutes

If you need to serve court paperwork on an individual that is currently being held by His Majesty's Prison (HMP) in the UK, then we can help. Working the length and breadth of Great Britain, and even overseas in some cases, our process serving division helps our clients by serving documents on individuals in a wide range of different cases. 

There could be many reasons that you need documents or court paperwork to be served on an individual that is currently being held in a UK prison... For example, landlords that lease properties to individuals who later find themselves being detained in prison, may need to serve documents on their tenant in order to progress eviction proceedings and regain access to their properties.

The service of other documents, such as non-molestation orders, statutory demands, claim forms, or divorce petitions in cases where our client needs to divorce a prisoner in the UK, are all relatively common within prisons.

Why you should choose us

Understandably, many of our clients find the prospect of entering a prison or jail in order to serve documents on an inmate to be a daunting and stressful proposition. Our agents are experienced at serving within prisons, we can take the stress out of the situation by carrying out a serve on your behalf.

Instructing an experienced process server can help to ensure that the serve will be carried out professionally and diligently. Furthermore, the use of an independent third party to serve court papers can often help to have a calming effect on the situation, which in tern leads to the desired result in a fast and professional manner.

Service of documents in prison

In cases where we are required to serve documents or court papers on prisoners, it's important to note that prisoners cannot be forced to attend legal visits; if an agent attends a prison and the subject decides that they will refuse to attend then additional fees will be payable to rebook another visit at a future date.

While our rates of success are high, we cannot guarantee success or the prisoner's amiability towards a service in any particular case. 

How to proceed

In order for us to serve documents on a prisoner in the UK, we require the prisoner's full name, date of birth, prisoner number, and the name of the prison which they are currently held in. Please be aware that if the defendant is detained in an unknown prison, then it is unlikely that the prison service will assist by providing information on their current whereabouts. In this case the prisoner's location would need to be established by other means.

We offer free quotes for all work. Please feel free to get in touch with us and mention the type of documents that you need to service, as well as the prison name and location. We will do our best to offer the most speedy and cost effective solution in your case.

Once we have provided a quote which has been accepted, we will then need to receive payment before arranging a prison visit to service the documents... It is not possible to simply arrive at the gates of a prison and request to see a prisoner; a visit will need to be booked in advance. Prison visits often become fully booked quickly, it is therefore advisable to instruct us in as much time as possible in order to ensure a speedy completion.

Contact numbers for prisons & Young Offender Institutes in England and Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

• HM Prison Altcourse, Liverpool - 01515 222000
• HM Prison Ashfield, Gloucestershire - 011730 38000
• HM Prison Askham Grange, North Yorkshire - 01904 772000
• HM Prison Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire - 01296 444000
• HM Prison Bedford, Bedfordshire - 01234 373000
• HM Prison Belmarsh, London - 02083 314400
• HM Prison Berwyn, Wrexham - 01978 523000
• HM Prison Birmingham, West Midlands - 0121598 8000
• HM Prison & YOI Brinsford, Staffordshire - 01902 533450
• HM Prison Bristol, Bristol - 0117 372 3100
• HM Prison Brixton, London - 020 8588 6000
• HM Prison Bronzefield, Surrey - 01784 425690
• HM Prison Buckley Hall, Greater Manchester - 01706 514300
• HM Prison & YOI Bullingdon, Oxfordshire - 01869 353100
• HM Prison Bure, Norfolk - 01603 326000
• HM Prison Cardiff, Cardiff - 0292092 3100
• HM Prison Channings Wood, Devon - 01803 812060
• HM Prison Chelmsford, Essex - 01245 552000
• HM Prison Coldingley, Surrey - 01483 344300
• HM Prison & YOI Cookham Wood, Kent - 01634 202500
• HM Prison Dartmoor, Devon - 01822 322000
• HM Prison & YOI Deerbolt, County Durham - 01833 633200
• HM Prison & YOI Doncaster, South Yorkshire - 01302 760870
• HM Prison Dovegate, Staffordshire - 01283 829400
• HM Prison Downview, Surrey - 0208196 6300
• HM Prison Drake Hall, Staffordshire - 01785 774100
• HM Prison Durham, County Durham - 0191332 3400
• HM Prison East Sutton Park, Kent - 01622 785000
• HM Prison Eastwood Park, Gloucestershire - 01454 382100
• HM Prison Erlestoke, Wiltshire - 01380 814250
• HM Prison Exeter, Devon - 01392 415650
• HM Prison Featherstone, Staffordshire - 0300 0606502
• HM Prison/YOI Feltham, London -  0208844 5000
• HM Prison Ford, West Sussex - 01903 663000
• HM Prison Forest Bank, Greater Manchester - 0161925 7000
• HM Prison & YOI Foston Hall, Derbyshire - 01283 584300
• HM Prison Five Wells (Wellingborough Prison), Northamptonshire - 01933 718888
• HM Prison Frankland, County Durham - 0191376 5048
• HM Prison Full Sutton, East Riding of Yorkshire -  01759 475100
• HM Prison Garth, Lancashire - 01772 443300
• HM Prison Gartree, Leicestershire - 01858 426727
• HM Prison Grendon, Buckinghamshire - 01296 445243
• HM Prison Guys Marsh, Dorset - 01747 856586
• HM Prison & YOI Hatfield, South Yorkshire - 01405 746500
• HM Prison Haverigg, Cumbria - 01229 713000 
• HM Prison Hewell, Worcestershire - 01527 785000
• HM Prison High Down, Surrey - 0207147 6300
• HM Prison Highpoint, Suffolk -  01440 743100
• HM Prison Hindley, Greater Manchester -  01942 663234
• HM Prison Hollesley Bay, Suffolk - 01394 412 400
• HM Prison Holme House, County Durham -  01642 744355
• HM Prison Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire -  01482 282 200
• HM Prison Humber, East Riding of Yorkshire - 01430 273000
• HM Prison/YOI Huntercombe, Oxfordshire - 01491 643100
• HM Prison/YOI Isis, London - 0203 3564324
• HM Prison Isle of Wight (Albany), Isle of Wight - 01983 634000
• HM Prison Kirkham, Lancashire -  01772 675400
• HM Prison Kirklevington Grange, North Yorkshire - 01642 792600
• HM Prison Lancaster Farms, Lancashire -  01524 563450 
• HM Prison Leeds, West Yorkshire - 01132 032600
• HM Prison Leicester, Leicestershire - 01162 283000
• HM Prison Lewes, East Sussex - 01273 785100
• HM Prison Leyhill, Gloucestershire -  01454 264000
• HM Prison Lincoln, Lincolnshire - 01522 663000
• HM Prison Lewes, East Sussex - 01273 785100
• HM Prison Leyhill, Gloucestershire - 01454 264000
• HM Prison Lincoln, Lincolnshire - 01522 663000
• HM Prison Lindholme, South Yorkshire - 01302 524700
• HM Prison Littlehey, Cambridgeshire - 01480 335000
• HM Prison Liverpool, Merseyside -  0151 5304000
• HM Prison Long Lartin, Worcestershire - 01386 295100
• HM Prison & YOI Low Newton, County Durham - 0191 376 4000
• HM Prison Lowdham Grange, Nottinghamshire - 0115 966 9208 
• HM Prison Maidstone, Kent - 01622 775 300
• HM Prison Manchester, Greater Manchester - 0161 817 5600 
• HM Prison Moorland, South Yorkshire - 01302 523 000
• HM Prison Morton Hall, Lincolnshire - 0300 303 0649
• HM Prison New Hall & YOI, West Yorkshire - 01924 803 000
• HM Prison Northumberland, Northumberland - 01670 383100
• HM Prison North Sea Camp, Lincolnshire - 01205 769 300
• HM Prison Norwich, Norfolk - 01603 708 600
• HM Prison Nottingham, Nottinghamshire - 0115 872 4000
• HM Prison Oakwood, Staffordshire - 01902 799 700
• HM Prison Onley, Warwickshire - 01788 523 400
• HM Prison & YOI Parc, Mid Glamorgan - 01656 300200
• HM Prison Pentonville, London - 020 7023 7000
• HM Prison & YOI Peterborough, Cambridgeshire - 01733 217500
• HM Prison & YOI Portland, Dorset - 01305 715 600 
• HM Prison Prescoed, Monmouthshire - 01291 675 000
• HM Prison Preston, Lancashire - 01772 444 550
• HM Prison Ranby, Nottinghamshire - 01777 862 000
• HM Prison Risley, Cheshire - 01925 733 000
• HM Prison & YOI Rochester, Kent - 01634 803 100 
• HM Prison Rye Hill, Northamptonshire - 01788 523300
• HM Prison Send, Surrey - 01483 471 000
• HM Prison Elmley (Sheppey Cluster), Kent - 01795 802 000
• HM Prison Standford Hill (Sheppey Cluster), Kent - 01795 884 500
• HM Prison Swaleside (Sheppey Cluster), Kent - 01795 804 100
• HM Prison Stafford, Staffordshire - 01785 773000
• HM Prison Stocken, Rutland - 01780 795 100
• HM Prison & YOI Stoke Heath, Shropshire - 01630 636 000 
• HM Prison & YOI Styal, Cheshire - 01625 553 000
• HM Prison Sudbury, Derbyshire - 01283 584 000
• HM Prison Swansea, Swansea - 01792 485 300
• HM Prison Swinfen Hall, Staffordshire - 01543 484 000
• HM Prison Thameside, London - 020 8317 9777
• HM Prison The Mount, Hertfordshire - 01442 836 300
• HM Prison The Verne, Dorest - 01305 825 000
• HM Prison Thorn Cross, Cheshire - 01925 805 100
• HM Prison Usk, Monmouthshire - 01291 671 600
• HM Prison Wakefield, West Yorkshire - 01924 612000
• HM Prison Wandsworth, London - 020 8588 4000
• HM Prison Warren Hill, Suffolk - 01394 633 400
• HM Prison Wayland, Norfolk - 01953 804 100
• HM Prison Wealstun, West Yorkshire - 01937 444 400
• HM YOI Werrington, Staffordshire - 01782 463300
• HM YOI Wetherby, West Yorkshire - 01937 544 200
• HM Prison Whatton, Nottinghamshire - 01949 803 200
• HM Prison Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire - 01354 602350
• HM Prison Winchester, Hampshire - 01962 723000
• HM Prison & YOI Woodhill, Buckinghamshire - 01908 722 000
• HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs, London - 020 8588 3200
• HM Prison Wymott, Lancashire - 01772 442000

Contact numbers for prisons & Young Offender Institutes in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

• HM Prison Addiewell, West Lothian - 01506 874500
• HM Prison Barlinnie, Glasgow - 0141 770 2000 
• HM Prison Castle Huntly, Perth and Kinross - 01382 319329
• HM Prison & YOI Cornton Vale, Stirling - 01786 832591
• HM Prison Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway - 01387 261218
• HM Prison Edinburgh, Edinburgh - 0131 444 3000
• HM Prison Glenochil, Clackmannanshire - 01259 760471
• HM Prison & YOI Grampian, Aberdeenshire - 01779 485600
• HM Prison Greenock, Inverclyde - 01475 787801
• HM Prison Inverness, Highland - 01463 229000
• HM Prison Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire - 01563 548800
• HM Prison Low Moss, East Dunbartonshire - 0141 762 9500
• HM Prison Perth, Perth and Kinross - 01738 622293
• HM Prison/YOI Polmont, Falkirk - 01324 711558
• HM Prison Shotts, North Lanarkshire - 01501 824000

Contact numbers for prisons & Young Offender Institutes in Northern Ireland

• HM Prison Maghaberry, County Antrim - 028 9261 1888
• HM Prison Magilligan, County Londonderry - 028 7776 3311
• HM Prison Hydebank Wood, County Down - 028 90253849 
• Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre, County Down - 028 9185 4600