Email a prisoner at HMP Pentonville
You send it on Email a Prisoner. Staff print it. How long it then takes is local.
Estate-wide eMates update
eMates is not working as usual
No. eMates is not down at one prison. People who already have an eMates account say they cannot send or cannot sign in. New Personal Accounts also need photo ID, a selfie, and proof of address.
This is an announcement from eMates for the whole estate. It is not a family report, and no prison has confirmed a local change.
Noted 29 September 2026
How Email a Prisoner works
- You send the email on Email a Prisoner (Unilink). Staff print it and give it to them.
- You need their name, prison number, and which prison.
- Unilink charges a fee per email. Photos cost extra. Check today’s price on their site before you pay.
- Printed mail usually goes out the next working day if you send it before their cut-off. The prison then hands it over on the mail round — often morning unlock, sometimes later.
- A reply service exists at some prisons only. They write on paper; Unilink emails you the scan.
- Delivery window
Next working day print, then the prison’s mail round. Morning unlock is common, not a promise.
- Photo upload
Extra fee on Email a Prisoner. The price is Unilink’s, not ours.
- Reply service
Only at some prisons. If they could reply, add it so the next family knows.
Unilink runs the product. Prices and cut-offs are theirs. Not HMPPS.
How long did it take to arrive?
One family reported 8 days. A few more and this prison gets its own figure.
Still correct?
“Four emails arrived together. Some were more than a week old. A letter posted on Tuesday arrived on Thursday.”
Email delivery · 8 days · 1mo ago
Get alerts for HMP Pentonville
A weekly email of what families reported at HMP Pentonville. Straight away if phones go down or there is a lockdown.
Questions families ask
- Use Email a Prisoner (Unilink). You need their name, prison number, and Pentonville. Staff print the email and give it to them. GOV.UK names Email a Prisoner as the email route. Unilink runs it.
- One family at HMP Pentonville reported 8 days. Unilink usually prints the next working day. The prison’s mail round is what families feel.
- Only if that prison has Unilink’s reply service. If you used it, add what happened so the next family is not guessing.
- No. You pay Unilink. Photos cost extra. Check today’s price on Email a Prisoner before you send.