What next for David Coote? Former Premier League referee pleads guilty to “serious matter” over child image offence

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 on Tuesday morning over an allegation relating to a category A video, the most serious kind, recovered by police in February.

A police investigation discovered an indecent image of a 15-year-old on a hard drive at Coote’s house, with this image last accessed in January 2020.

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

Coote, wearing a blue suit and tie, spoke only to confirm his name and enter his plea to the offence during a six-minute hearing in front of Judge Nirmal Shant KC.

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

© Imago

What next for David Coote after guilty plea?

Coote, who was granted conditional bail, will be sentenced on December 11 and has been warned that the possibility of receiving a prison sentence should not be disregarded.

The judge 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."

She added: "You (Coote) must not go away with the impression that this will not lead to a custodial sentence."

Coote, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, was sacked by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in December and has not officiated a football match since he was suspended in November last year, after a video of comments he had made about ex-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in 2020 came to light.

Not long after, The Sun published a separate video allegedly depicting Coote sniffing white powder, with the footage reportedly taken from July 6, the day after Coote officiated as assistant VAR in the Euro 2024 quarter-final between France and Portugal in Hamburg.

In February of this year, Coote was banned from officiating in UEFA competitions for 16 months for “violating the basic rules of decent conduct” and “bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute.”

Coote was then handed down an eight-week suspension by the English Football Association because of his expletive comments about Klopp.