A Perth man who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his elderly parents after they were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease has been sentenced to more than five years in prison. Blake Adrian Brinklow was given control of his parent's financial affairs when he was appointed enduring power of attorney in 2016, after the couple was diagnosed. But his abuse of that power, which included using the stolen money to fund his gambling addiction, only came to light after Valerie and Paul Brinklow died in 2019 and 2021, respectively. The 49-year-old denied the offences and stood trial last year, but a jury found him guilty of three charges of stealing while holding power of attorney, committed between March 2017 and July 2018. On Thursday, the WA District Court heard Brinklow stole about $700,000 from his parents on three occasions, including the entirety of his mother's superannuation and money from the sale of the family's home before they died. Brinklow, who has a qualification in accounting, made several payments to online gambling companies and accounts linked to his business Grasshopper Soccer, which runs soccer clinics for school children. Judge Geneveive Cleary sentenced Brinklow to five years and four months in prison. "No son with such adamant views about looking after his parents would leave them in such a precarious position," she said. The father of three will be eligible for parole after three years and four months. Siblings were to be repaid Brinklow's lawyer Michael Perrella told the court his client never sought to be the power of attorney and did not intend to abuse that position. The court heard Brinklow had every intention to repay the funds to his siblings, which Mr Perrella said was disrupted when police got involved. "The minute he was charged, [it] changed the trajectory of that being resolved," Mr Perrella said. 'You still stole the money' State prosecutor Bernard Standish told the court any intention by Brinklow to pay the money to his siblings did not excuse the criminal offence. "So what?" he told the court. "It doesn't matter if you stole it on Monday and intended to pay it back on Tuesday. You still stole the money. "The victims of this man's offending were Paul and Valerie Brinklow, not his siblings." The prosecutor told the court Brinklow had a gambling addiction, in one case spending $100,000 over three-and-a-half hours on multiple online sports betting sites. Mr Standish told the court there were months between Brinklow's father passing away and police contacting him, when he could have paid his siblings. "He shut out his sister and brother completely once he was challenged just about producing the documents," he told the court. Civil action settled Brinklow was scheduled to be sentenced in January, but it was delayed after his lawyer argued he needed more time to negotiate the amount of restitution that had to be paid in a civil action brought on by his siblings. In that case, the executor of his parent's estate was seeking about $800,000. The court heard that matter had been settled confidentially on Monday, just three days prior to his sentencing. The amount repaid is unknown.