AN AMERICAN pensioner made applications for Irish passports using the names of two dead babies after he ran into “visa difficulties” while doing business in Europe, a court has heard.
Detective Garda Padraig Hanley, of the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that reports relating to Randolph Kirk Parker, 73, first came to their attention in 2017.
Randolph Kirk Parker applied for passports using the names of dead babiesDaragh Mc Sweeney/Provision
In 2022, Mr Parker made an application from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to renew an Irish passport in the name of Geoffrey Warbrook.
Garda Hanley said this application sparked an investigation as Geoffrey Warbrook was the name of a baby who died here in 1953.
Parker was arrested on September 14 at the passport office in Cork where he appeared in person to renew travel documents in the name of Philip Frank Morris.
This was the name Parker used until Gardai, as a result of extensive enquiries abroad, discovered he was an American originally from Michigan, and had an arrest warrant issued against him.
He applied for a “fast track passport” in the name of Morris, which Gardai believed initially was authentic, in order to leave the country.
However, investigating officers subsequently established that Morris was an Irish-born infant who died in 1952.
Detective Garda Hanley said: “We had two identities for this person and four passports were applied for. Two applications in the name of Philip Morris and two in the name of Geoffrey Warbrook.
“Two had been issued and two were applications for renewals. He had falsely obtained genuine Irish passports.
“We had no idea who this person was. Numerous inquiries were carried out with the assistance of Interpol and the assistance of the US Embassy and Irish and international agencies.
“He had a US arrest record from 1970 in Michigan and was identified as Randolph Parker.”
Parker’s fingerprints were widely circulated following his arrest which aided in his true identity being discovered.
A number of agencies assisted, including Interpol who liaised with their 195 member countries in a bid to help gardai identify him.
Mr Parker held an Irish passport for three decades but only recently obtained a PPS number.
Using Irish driving licence
He was also a member of the VHI and he had an Irish driving licence.
Garda Hanley said that the charge sheet was amended to reflect the true identity of the man.
Parker, born on March 7, 1951, was remanded in custody and appeared before the district court on several occasions.
In February of this year Mr Parker was sent forward for sentence at Cork Circuit Criminal Court after he pleaded guilty to four counts of using false information to obtain passports and one count of possessing a false instrument.
False instrument
Garda Hanley said that the false instrument referred to was an Irish drivering licence issued in 2011 in the name of Philip Morris.
A charge relating to giving a false name to a member of An Garda Siochana following his arrest was struck out.
Garda Hanley told Judge Jonathan Dunphy that he interviewed Mr Parker on two occasions.
He said that it was an “unusual” experience as while the pensioner did not co-operate and refused to answer any questions he was not obstructive.
‘No previous convictions’
He said: “He was affable and articulate but refused to engage with the investigation. He had no previous convictions that we are aware of.
“We have very little in the way of information. He did previously hold a US passport in 1999. We believed he first entered Ireland in 1988 through Shannon Airport then travelled over Europe and lived in Amsterdam.
“He had VHI here and a post office box at an address in Dublin and numerous friends all over Ireland who knew him by a different name entirely.”
Garda Hanley previously told the court that they had spoken to the brother of the late Philip Morris who died at the age of four months in 1953.
He said they also engaged with relatives of Mr Warbrook who confirmed the young baby’s death in the early 1950s.
Anxious for case conclusion
Prosecuting barrister, Emmet Boyle, said that Mr Parker was anxious to have the matter dealt with and signed a plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity.
Defence barrister, Brendan Kelly, said that his client was a “very affable, articulate intelligent man” who was “pleasant to deal with” during the course of their consultations.
He said: “He has no familial connections in the jurisdiction. Friends knew him by an other identity. He came to Europe in the 1980’s for business activities and met a man who facilitated him with the Irish passports.
He said since he was remanded in custody Parker has worked on his computer skills and in the library in Cork Prison.
‘Man of books’
Garda Hanley said that he wasn’t surprised to hear this as Parker was clearly a “man of books”.
He said: “He was also at all stages pleasant and co-operated. His signed plea was of significant assistance and short circuited the entire proceeds.
“An enhanced deduction should be afforded as he entered a plea at the first opportunity.”
Mr Kelly also asked that the sentence be backdated to when Parker first entered custody on September 15 last.
‘Visa difficulties’
He said: “He has lived in the EU for some time but he is effectively a foreign national with no familial connection. His time in custody will be difficult and egregious for him.”
He said that Parker had applied for false passports after he encountered “visa difficulties” in the course of his business activities.
Parker met a man with a “knowledge of the Irish passport system” who gave him certain advice the court heard.
Mr Parker was not required to speak during the hearing. He was wearing a white shirt and grey pants with his grey hair tied back in a bun.
Judge Dunphy remanded Parker in continuing custody to appear before Cork Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing on April 22 next.
Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
