Ex-Premier League referee pleads guilty to child image offence
admin
Former Premier League referee David Coote has admitted to creating an indecent image of a child, following a court appearance on Tuesday.
According to Sky Sportson Tuesday, the charge relates to a Category A video, the most serious level under UK law, discovered by police earlier this year.
The 43-year-old appeared at Nottingham Crown Court, where he entered a guilty plea during a brief hearing before Judge Nirmal Shant KC.
The offence is linked to material recovered by authorities in February 2025.
The former referee, from Collingham, was granted conditional bail by Judge Shant and told he must appear in court again on December 11.
The judge told Coote, who stood in the dock with his hands clasped in front of him, that she was ordering a pre-sentence report to be carried out before he was to be sentenced.
She 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, which is why I have ordered a pre-sentence report.”
Coote was sacked by Professional Game Match Officials Limited in December after a video of comments he had made about ex-Liverpool boss 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.
