A nine-year jail term handed to a convicted thief whose offending tore a family apart was ‘entirely appropriate’, the appeal court had ruled.

Former problem gambler Garry Richard Vernon was convicted by a jury of three counts of theft totalling £997,068 in February this year following an 12-day trial.

His thefts resulted in a large part of the estate of his wife’s grandfather, the late Evan Gelling Fargher, being lost

He was jailed for nine years at the Court of General Gaol Delivery in April, when Deemster Graeme Cook described him as ‘extremely deceitful and morally disgusting’.

Vernon appealed, claimed his sentence was ‘manifestly excessive’.

His application was heard in the Staff of Government division on Friday and judgment delivered the same say.

Vernon claimed that the starting point of nine years and nine months for the offences of theft of a total of £997,068 was too high and took no account of inflation and the trial Deemster failed to make a sufficient reduction in sentence to reflect the delay between arrest and conviction or give adequate credit for personal mitigation.

But Judge of appeal Anthony Cross, siting with Deemster Wild and Deemster Smith, refused the appeal adding: ‘What is more we conclude that this sentence was entirely appropriate given the particular circumstances of the offending.’

Mr Fargher lived in the Castle View nursing home in Peel from December 2009 until his death in April 2013 at the age of 89.

He had worked hard all his life farming the land. He had been careful with his money and intended to leave his considerable estate of over £1m in part to his family. He was a staunch Methodist and had also bequeathed, charitably, money to his chapel.

Over the course of years Vernon, who had a career in financial services, stole from Mr Fargher, his heirs, and the chapel, using his status, knowledge and family links to the vulnerable old man to perpetrate the thefts.

The appeal court said: ‘The gravity of his offending is perhaps best reflected in the words of his victims who have not only lost their inheritance, but their family have been driven apart by his actions. The tragedy of this family born of his dishonesty is immeasurable – they are a family torn apart.’

They added: ‘We endorse the use of lengthy sentences to deter those who might inveigle their ways into the lives of the elderly and the vulnerable.’

The jury at his trial heard that Vernon had had a pathological gambling disorder, which lost him his marriage and a trusted job at the Bank of Bermuda.

In August, he appeared in court via video link from prison when he was ordered to pay more than £150,000 in compensation to his victims.