A former problem gambler jailed for nine years for the theft of almost £1m is appealing against his sentence,

Garry Vernon was convicted by a jury of three counts of theft totalling £997,068 in February this year following an 11-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’. The Deemster told him: ‘The family has been torn apart. You should be thoroughly ashamed’.

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

On Friday this week (November 24), the Staff of Government division will hear his application to seek leave to appeal his sentence.

Judge of appeal Anthony Cross will sit with Deemster Wild and Deemster Smith to hear his application.

At his trial, the jury heard that the defendant, who had a career in financial services, had befriended Mr Fargher and told him that his finances were not being handled well.

He then persuaded him to transfer £100,000, which he used for a speculative foreign exchange investment. That money was lost in a short space of time as was a further £100,000 he transferred from his victim’s accounts.

Vernon’s gambling addiction took over and he was chasing his losses.

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.

When the old man died, Vernon gave a letter to his widow explaining what he had done. Defence advocate Stephen Wood said his client had had a pathological gambling disorder and given the nature of his addiction, he just could not stop.

The offences took place between January 2010 and April 2013.

The court heard that Vernon, of Glen Auldyn, Ramsey, had no previous convictions and his gambling addiction had lost him his marriage and in 1998, a trusted job at the Bank of Bermuda.

Mr Wood said his client had since found ‘considerable solace’ with the Living Hope church.

Deemster Cook jailed him for nine years for count 1 – the theft of £663,945 – and for five years and two years to run concurrently for the other two counts, the thefts of £325,273 and £7,850 respectively.