Former Premier League referee David Coote has been given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years after admitting to making an indecent image of a child.
The former referee, who was in charge of over 100 Premier League matches before his dismissal in December 2024, was found to have had a video of a 15-year-old boy in school uniform on his laptop.
Coote admitted to the charge, which can refer to activities such as downloading, sharing, or saving abuse photos, in October.
In her summary, Judge Nirmal Shant KC said Coote “had a spectacular fall from grace” having refereed his final Premier League match in November 2024.
The laptop was found as part of a separate investigation into Coote after a video emerged in which he made insulting comments towards then Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, describing him as a “German c**t.”
Coote was supported by PGMOL but initially claimed the video was fake. Coote admitted it was genuine before another video emerged of him allegedly snorting cocaine during Euro 2024, handing him a suspension from UEFA as well.
The FA also investigated Coote for alleged match fixing when it was claimed he handed out a yellow card during a Championship match between Leeds and West Brom in 2019 as it was beneficial to a friend who placed a bet. Coote was sacked by the PGMOL in December 2024.
Addressing Coote, the judge said: “You have had a spectacular fall from grace.
“Those who commit this sort of offence must understand that they involve real children being abused, with all the consequent damage that comes from it.”
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Coote’s barrister, Laura Jane Mille,r invited the judge to consider a suspended sentence and an order to perform unpaid work.
She told the court: “Looking at the prospect of rehabilitation and whether there needs to be an immediate custodial sentence, I would invite the court to impose a suspended sentence of imprisonment. It would save him being a burden on the public purse in the custodial setting.”
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