Former Premier League referee David Coote, 43, has pleaded guilty to making an indecent image of a child which is category A the most serious in UK law.
Coote admitted at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday to transferring a video from a hard drive to a laptop on January 2, 2020. The video was discovered when police looked into it in February.
Judge Nirmal Shant KC ordered a pre-sentence report and bailed Coote conditionally until December 11, his next appearance.
“You have pleaded guilty to a serious offence,” he said to him. “Whether or not this will involve custody will be a matter for the information available to the court at sentence. You should not assume that this will not involve imprisonment.”
The court stated the charge covers offenses such as downloading, distributing, or possessing child sexual abuse material.
During the brief six-minute hearing, Coote who was dressed in a navy suit and black tie only spoke to identify himself and enter the plea. He had previously pleaded not guilty on September 10 at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court.
Coote’s career has been tainted by controversy. He was dismissed as a Premier League referee in 2024 after a video surfaced of him making abusive remarks about former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp. The Football Association also banned him for eight weeks in August 2025 for the incident.
Coote publicly declared his homosexuality in an interview with The Sun in January, stating years of concealing his sexuality had contributed to his earlier outburst.
He will be sentenced in December after the court reviews the pre-sentence report.
