Former Premier League referee David Coote has been handed a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to making an indecent moving image of a child. The 43-year-old was found to have a video of a 15-year-old boy in school uniform on his laptop, which prosecutors described as a category A offence, the most serious kind.
Sentencing at Nottingham Crown Court, Judge Shant told Coote he had experienced a “spectacular fall from grace” and imposed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, restricting his contact with children and where he can live. Coote was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
The court heard that the two-minute, 11-second video showed the boy undressing and performing sexual acts on himself. The video was extracted from a hard drive to Coote’s laptop on 2 January 2020. Police seized and analysed his devices in February 2025 after an unrelated video emerged of Coote making derogatory comments about then-Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, which led to his sacking by Professional Game Match Officials Limited in December 2024.
Defence lawyer Laura Jane Miller said Coote was dealing with personal and mental health difficulties at the time and was “deeply ashamed by his actions”. She argued for a suspended sentence to allow rehabilitation and avoid a burden on the public purse. Coote left court via a private exit and declined to comment.
