American man jailed for applying for passports in Cork in names of deceased babies

The judge said the first aggravating factor in the case was the challenge and threat Randolph Kirk Parker' actions caused to the passport system in Ireland

Randolph Kirk Parker was sentenced to three-and-a-half years with the final 15 months suspended. His identity remains a mystery while international enquiries were made to establish his name. File picture: Larry Cummins

A 73-year-old American whose deception threatened the integrity of the Irish passport system was sentenced on Monday to more than two years in jail for applying for Irish passports in the name of two babies who died in the 1950s.

Judge Jonathan Dunphy imposed a sentence of three-and-a-half years with the final 15 months suspended on Randolph Kirk Parker whose identity remained a mystery while international enquiries were made to establish his name. When arrested in Cork last September he presented as Philip Morris and gardaí originally prosecuted him in this name.

The judge said the first aggravating factor in the case was the challenge and threat his actions caused to the passport system in Ireland. He said the offence also affected the families of those whose deceased loved ones’ names were used in the offences.

“His lack of co-operation is another aggravating factor and costs borne by the State in prosecuting the case. The breach of trust of all of his friends in Ireland who knew him for years under a false name (is another aggravating factor),” Judge Dunphy said.

Mitigating factors included the signed plea of guilty to the charges, obviating the necessity for a book of evidence, the fact that he was pleasant to deal with and had no known previous convictions and is now working the prison kitchen and garden.

Garda testimony

At Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Detective Garda Padraic Hanley said 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.

When released from prison the defendant is required to supply his address and phone number within 12 hours to gardaí, as a term of the suspension of the 15 months for a period of two years.

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.