Former Premier League referee David Coote has pleaded guilty to making an indecent image of a child, marking a dramatic fall from grace for the once-prominent English official, MySportDab Reports.
The 43-year-old, from Nottinghamshire, admitted to a Category A offence—the most severe classification—after police discovered a video involving a 15-year-old girl on a hard drive at his home.
The court heard that the file was last accessed on January 2, 2020, when Coote extracted it from a hard drive onto a laptop.
Appearing before Judge Nirmal Shant KC at Nottingham Crown Court, Coote spoke only to confirm his name and enter his guilty plea during the brief six-minute hearing. The judge ordered a pre-sentence report ahead of the sentencing scheduled for December 11, warning Coote that imprisonment remains a likely outcome.
“You have pleaded guilty to a serious matter,” said Judge Shant. “Whether this means custody or not will be decided when all the information is before the court. You must not go away with the impression that this will not lead to a custodial sentence.”
The former referee, who made his Premier League debut in 2018, has endured a turbulent few years. He was dismissed by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) after a leaked video showed him making derogatory comments about Liverpool and their former manager, Jürgen Klopp.
UEFA later banned him from officiating in any European competitions, citing “a breach of basic decency and conduct.”
Coote, who came out as gay earlier this year, is now on conditional bail and has been added to the sex offenders’ register pending sentencing.
He is prohibited from unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 or residing in a home where a child is present.
Under the Protection of Children Act 1978, Coote faces a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
