Ex-referee David Coote admits child image offence

David Coote appeared at Nottingham Crown Court

Former Premier League referee David Coote has pleaded guilty to making an indecent image of a child.

The 43-year-old appeared at Nottingham Crown Court over an allegation relating to a category A video, the most serious kind, recovered by police in February.

Coote, from Woodhill Road, Collingham, Nottinghamshire, was granted conditional bail ahead of an appearance on 11 December.

Judge Nirmal Shant KC ordered a pre-sentence report and said: "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 court heard Coote extracted the video from a hard drive to a laptop on 2 January 2020.

Coote officiated his first match in the Premier League in 2018

He previously pleaded not guilty to the charge at a hearing on 10 September at Nottingham Magistrates' Court.

At the six-minute hearing on Tuesday, Coote, who wore a navy suit and black tie, spoke only to confirm his name and enter his guilty plea.

The charge of making an indecent image of a child refers to activities such as downloading, sharing or saving photos or videos containing abuse.

Judge Shant KC said: "You must not go away with the impression that this will not lead to a custodial sentence."

Coote was sacked last year when comments made in a video about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in 2020 came to light.

In August this year, he was given an eight-week suspension by the Football Association over the Klopp footage.

In January, Coote came out as gay in an interview with The Sun and said a lifelong struggle to hide his sexuality had contributed to the rant about Klopp.

Additional reporting by PA Media