The appeal court has refused leave for a convicted thief to take his case to the Privy Council.

Garry Richard Vernon was jailed for nine years in April 2023 after being convicted of three counts of theft totalling £997,068 following a 12-day jury trial.

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

Twenty-one months later, he applied to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which is the final court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies.

But Judge of Appeal Cross KC, sitting with acting Deemster Wild and acting Deemster Smith, ruled that his application was ‘wholly misconceived’ and totally without merit.

Refusing permission to appeal to the Privy Council, they said the application was out of time, and no good reason had been provided as to why.

They concluded it raised no arguable point of law of general public importance which required determination.

And they added: ‘There is no miscarriage of justice here at all, let alone a serious one.

‘The applicant’s repeated submissions have ignored the aggravating factors and have sought to apply a mathematical formula to what was an extremely serious abuse of trust of a very elderly man.’

While’s Verson’s application has been ruled application is totally without merit, he can still appeal directly to the Privy Council for permission to appeal - and has 21 days from the date of the latest judgment to do so.

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.

In its 2024 judgment, 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 2023, he appeared in court via video link from prison when he was ordered to pay more than £150,000 in compensation to his victims.