Ex-Premier League Referee David Coote Pleads Guilty To Child Image Offence

Former Premier League referee David Coote has pleaded blameworthy to making an indecent representation of a child, 1 classified arsenic class A, the astir superior kind.

Coote, 43, appeared earlier Nottingham Crown Court connected Tuesday, wherever helium admitted to extracting a video from a hard thrust to a laptop connected January 2, 2020. The footage was recovered by constabulary during an probe successful February.

Judge Nirmal Shant KC ordered a pre-sentence study and granted Coote conditional bail up of his adjacent tribunal quality connected 11 December.

“You person pleaded blameworthy to a superior matter,” Judge Shant told the defendant. “Whether this means custody oregon not volition beryllium decided erstwhile each the accusation is earlier the court. You indispensable not spell distant with the content that this volition not pb to a custodial sentence.”

The tribunal heard that the complaint of making an indecent representation of a kid covers activities specified arsenic downloading, sharing, oregon redeeming photos oregon videos containing kid intersexual maltreatment material.

Coote, dressed successful a navy suit and achromatic tie, spoke lone to corroborate his sanction and participate his blameworthy plea during the little six-minute hearing.

He had initially pleaded not blameworthy to the complaint astatine a erstwhile quality earlier Nottingham Magistrates’ Court connected 10 September.

LEADERSHIP reports that the erstwhile referee’s vocation has been marked by contention successful caller years. Coote was sacked successful 2024 aft a video resurfaced showing him making violative comments astir erstwhile Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp successful 2020.

The Football Association aboriginal handed him an eight-week suspension successful August, 2025 implicit the incident.

In January, Coote publically came retired arsenic cheery successful an interrogation with The Sun, revealing that a lifelong conflict to conceal his sexuality had contributed to his outburst astir Klopp.

His sentencing volition instrumentality spot aft the pre-sentence study is reviewed in December.