Man accused of applying for false passports in names of dead Irish children to face trial

A 72-year-old man, charged with falsely applying for Irish passports in the name of two dead infants, will be sent forward for trial after the DPP directed trial by indictment, a court has heard.

The first of the new charges is similar to three other charges faced by Randolph Parker, namely that he provided false information in relation to a passport application in the name of Philip Morris on Sept 14th, 2023 at the Passport Office, South Mall, Cork.

Det Garda Padraic Hanley of the Garda National Bureau of Crime Investigation told Cork District Court that when he arrested Mr Parker and put the three new charges to him this morning after caution, he had nothing to say in response to any of them.

The particulars of the charge state that the accused provided information for the issue of a passport which were false or misleading in a material respect and which he knew or believed were false or misleading or were reckless as to whether they were false or misleading.

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The second new charge against Mr Parker is that he had an Irish driving licence in the name of Philip Francis Morris at the Passport Office, South Mall, Cork on the same date which he knew or believed to be a false instrument with the intention of inducing another person to believe it was genuine.

Mr Parker was also charged with obstructing a member of An Garda Síochána by giving a false name and address to Garda Jess O’Sullivan when she demanded same from him while he was detained at the Bridewell Garda station Cork, also on September 14th, 2023.

Det Garda Hanley said the DPP had directed trial by indictment at Circuit Court level on the original three false passport charges, the new false passport charge and the driving licence charge while the DPP had directed that the obstruction charge could be dealt with summarily at District Court level.

Mr Parker’s solicitor, Frank Buttimer asked for a precis of the Garda evidence against his client so Mr Parker could decide whether to go forward to the Circuit Court on a signed plea of guilty which would obviate the need for the state to prepare a book of evidence.

Det Garda Hanley said that he should be able to provide a precis of the garda case against Mr Parker within a few days. Judge Mary Dorgan remanded Mr Parker in continuing custody to appear again at Cork District Court on Thursday by video link when he can indicate what course he is taking.

Judge Dorgan also granted free legal aid to Mr Parker on the new charges and assigned Aoife Buttimer from Mr Buttimer’s practice to represent him while she also granted him free legal aid to hire a barrister to represent him at the Circuit Court after hearing that he is to be tried on indictment.

At a previous court hearing, Det Garda Hanley said that Mr Parker had allegedly applied for passports in the name of Philip Morris and Geoffrey Warbrook and that gardaí had spoken to relatives of both who confirmed that they had died in 1952 and 1953 when they were infants.

Det Garda Hanley said gardaí had established from inquiries with the FBI and the forwarding of finger print samples taken from the accused that he is Randolph Parker, a US citizen born on March 7th, 1951 after the FBI got a match with Mr Parker’s fingerprints on their files following an arrest in 1970.

Mr Buttimer said at that previous hearing that his client, who had until then declined to tell gardaí who he was, was happy to acknowledge that he was Randolph Kirk Parker with a date of birth of March 7th, 1951.

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