Former Premier League referee David Coote admits making indecent child image

David Coote, the former Premier League official, has pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to making an indecent image of a child. The 43-year-old entered the plea at a short hearing and was granted conditional bail.

The charge relates to a category A video — the most serious classification — that was recovered by police in February. The court heard the video was extracted from a hard drive to a laptop on 2 January 2020.

• Coote, of Woodhill Road, Collingham, Nottinghamshire, previously denied the allegation at a hearing on 10 September at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court.
• He was granted conditional bail ahead of an appearance listed for 11 December.
• The six-minute hearing on Tuesday saw Coote, wearing a navy suit and black tie, confirm his name and enter the guilty plea.

Judge Nirmal Shant KC ordered a pre-sentence report and warned of the possible consequences. The judge said the court would decide whether custody was necessary once all information was available.

“You have pleaded guilty to a serious matter. Whether this means custody or not will be decided when all the information is before the court.”

The offence of making an indecent image of a child covers actions such as downloading, sharing or saving photos or videos that depict abuse.

“You must not go away with the impression that this will not lead to a custodial sentence.”

Coote was sacked last year after a video clip of comments about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp from 2020 emerged. The Football Association handed him an eight-week suspension in August over that footage.

Earlier this year Coote spoke publicly about his sexuality in an interview with The Sun, saying a lifelong struggle to hide his sexuality had contributed to the outburst about Klopp. Additional reporting by PA Media.