The eight-year jail sentence handed out to a callous and despicable criminal who deliberately targeted the old, the frail and the vulnerable will hopefully send out a strong message that such crimes will be dealt with severely.

But the extent of Stewart Marshall’s determined and calculated spree of theft and fraud is such that many people’s first instinct will be that he should be spending even more time in jail. His crimes are a shocking catalogue of cruel exploitation of members of society who have been left vulnerable and infirm by age and illness.

They should have been enjoying a peaceful retirement after a lifetime of working and bringing up their own families; instead they have been robbed of their self-esteem and dignity as well as their treasured possessions and their savings by a parasite who wanted to feed his drug habit.

When we launched our With Respect campaign, we wanted to highlight the issues that cause problems for the older generation, to try and show how important it is for us all to remember to treat them with dignity and due respect.

Remorseless crooks like Marshall sadly shows there are those in our society who see any vulnerable group as nothing more than an easy target to exploit.

No amount of appealing to their conscience or better nature will ever change that.

However, the relentless investigative work of the police has meant the guilty party has been brought to justice, and they deserve fulsome praise for that.

And if nothing else, this case serves to highlight once again why we must all help and protect where necessary elderly relatives and friends who could fall victim to the Stewart Marshalls of this world.