Former Premier League referee David Coote has pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to making an indecent image of a child. The 43-year-old appeared in court on Tuesday in connection with a category A video, the most serious classification, which was recovered by officers in February.
Coote, from Collingham near Newark, Nottinghamshire, wore a navy suit and black tie as he spoke only to confirm his name and enter his plea before Judge Shant KC. He was granted conditional bail and ordered to appear in court again on 11 December. The judge also imposed a sexual harm prevention order and told him not to contact any children.
The charge of making an indecent image of a child relates to activities such as downloading, sharing or saving abuse photos or videos. The court heard the image was category A. Coote had previously denied the charge at Nottingham Magistrates' Court in September.
Coote, who refereed 112 Premier League matches, 143 Championship games, 30 FA Cup ties and four international friendlies, was sacked by the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) last December after a video surfaced in which he made comments about then Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp.
Judge Shant told Coote a pre-sentencing report was being ordered, saying: "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."
