US ‘man of books’ helps in Cork Prison library while awaiting sentencing for passport offences

Randolph Kirk Parker is believed to have entered Ireland in 1988 and will be sentenced on April 22

The accused man — now known by his correct name thanks to enquiries through the FBI — Randolph Kirk Parker pleaded guilty to four counts of making a false statement to obtain a passport and one for having a false document. File picture: Larry Cummins

A 73-year-old American ‘man of books’ who is now helping at the library in Cork Prison will be sentenced on April 22 in a case where he applied for Irish passports in the name of two babies who died in the 1950s.

Judge Jonathan Dunphy asked the witness from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation at one stage to repeat a part of his evidence at the sentencing hearing on Friday at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. Detective Garda Padraic Hanley replied: “Yes, it is quite complicated.” 

The accused man — now known by his correct name thanks to enquiries through the FBI — Randolph Kirk Parker pleaded guilty to four counts of making a false statement to obtain a passport and one for having a false document.

The case concerns applications which he made for passports in two names, Philip Morris and Geoffrey Warbrook, and more recent applications to renew these passports. Both of those names were the names of Irish babies who died in the 1950s.

For a time the investigating gardaí believed the Philip Morris name was the accused man’s real name but it turned out that he was neither Geoffrey Warbrook nor Philip Morris — infants who died in 1952.

“I arrested the accused on September 14, 2023, at the passport office on South Mall, Cork, when he was in the process of collecting a passport for which he applied a number of days previously — in a fast turnaround application — as he wished to leave the country. It was in the name Philip Frank Morris.

“But on June 7, 2022, the same person had applied from Amsterdam to renew a passport in the name of Geoffrey Warbrook, believed to be falsely obtained. It was the name of an infant who died in 1952.

“It was reported originally in 2017 and when the renewal application was made in 2022 it sparked an investigation.

“It was believed that Geoffrey Warbrook and Philip Morris were the same person but that Philip Morris was the genuine identity and he was interviewed as such.

“(Later) it was suspected that he may not be Philip Morris. He was also a person who died in 1952 as an infant. So we had two IDs for this person — two applications in the name of Philip Morris, two in the name of Geoffrey Warbrook — but we have no idea who this person is.

“Numerous enquiries were made to establish the identity with Interpol. A number of weeks afterwards he was identified as Randolph Parker — from a 1970 arrest record in Michigan (information obtained through the FBI). He acknowledged this was his identity. 

"He has been remanded in custody since September 2023. He was in possession of a previously issued driver’s licence in the name of Philip Frank Morris (the false document charge),” Det. Garda Hanley said.

Asked by prosecution barrister Emmet Boyle about the defendant’s attitude at interview, the detective said: “He did not co-operate. He refused to answer questions. But he was affable and articulate. He refused to engage with the investigation… We know very little about it. 

"We believe he entered Ireland in 1988 (through Shannon Airport). He has travelled around Europe, lived in Amsterdam for some time. He had a VHI account here. He had a post office box at an address in Dublin. 

He has numerous friends around Ireland who knew him by a different name entirely.

Brendan Kelly, defence barrister, said the accused encountered visa difficulties in the course of business activities and met a man with a knowledge of the Irish passport system who gave him certain advice on how to do what he did.

“He has been working in the library in prison,” Mr Kelly said. The detective said: “That does not surprise me. He is a man of books.” The defendant was not required to speak during the sentencing hearing and sat in the dock, his remaining grey hair tied back from his temples in a ponytail.

Judge Dunphy said he would make his decision in the case and deliver it on April 22 at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Randolph Kirk Parker confirmed his signed pleas of guilty to four counts of using false information to obtain passports and one count of possessing a false document. The charges which are admitted all relate to the passport office on South Mall, Cork. 

The charges of using false information to obtain passports relate to the following dates: September 12 to 24, 2012; August 7, 2013; June 7, 2022, and September 11, 2023. The charge of possessing a false document — namely a driving licence in someone else’s name — relates to September 14, 2023.