David Coote pleads guilty to category A indecent image offence
Former Premier League referee David Coote, aged 43, has pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to making an indecent image of a child, a Category A offence—the gravest classification under UK law.
Coote initially entered a not guilty plea when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court in September, but changed his plea during Tuesday’s hearing. The offence involves actions such as downloading, sharing or saving abusive content, and the specific material is said to date from January 2, 2020.
During the court session, Judge Nirmal Shant KC ordered a pre-sentence report to assist in determining the appropriate sentence. Coote was granted conditional bail, subject to restrictions: he must avoid unsupervised contact with minors, and he is barred from living at any address where a person under 18 resides. He is due to be sentenced on December 11, 2025.
The maximum penalty for this category of offence is 10 years in prison. Coote’s guilty plea means he also becomes liable to be placed on the sex offenders register and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Coote’s fall from grace follows prior controversies. He was dismissed by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in December 2024 after a video emerged showing him making derogatory comments about Liverpool and former manager Jürgen Klopp. UEFA also banned him from officiating until June 2026 after another video surfaced allegedly showing him snorting a white powder during Euro 2024. Earlier in 2025, Coote publicly came out as gay and acknowledged that hiding his sexuality had contributed to his “really poor choices.”
This development now adds the most serious criminal dimension to Coote’s troubles. The coming weeks will determine whether the court imposes a custodial sentence or an alternative.
