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David Coote, a former referee in the Premier League, has been handed a suspended prison sentence after a child abuse video was discovered on his laptop. The disturbing footage, which depicted a 15-year-old boy dressed in a school uniform, was found last year in February when police examined his electronic devices. Coote, residing in Woodhill, Collingham, Nottinghamshire, admitted to creating an indecent image of a child—a category A offense—during proceedings at Nottingham Crown Court in October.
Returning to court for sentencing, 43-year-old Coote received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, alongside a sexual harm prevention order that will last a decade. The court also reviewed evidence revealing that on January 2, 2020, Coote’s Dell laptop had interacted with a hard drive containing the illicit video, which lasted two minutes and eleven seconds. Judge Nirmal Shant KC emphasized the serious impact of such crimes by telling Coote, “Those who commit this sort of offence must realise they involve a real child and that causes them damage.”
The misconduct charge pertains to actions like downloading, saving, or sharing indecent images or videos of children. The case against Coote emerged during an investigation by the Football Association (FA), which led to police seizing several of his devices. Initially pleading not guilty, Coote changed his plea to guilty the following month. His defense lawyer, Laura Miller, described his behavior on the date of the offense as uncharacteristic and linked it to personal difficulties stemming from the end of a relationship. She also noted that Coote had been under intense media scrutiny, to which the judge remarked, “Some might say he has brought it on himself.” Miller expressed that six years had elapsed since the offense and that Coote, now employed in an administrative capacity, was attempting to rebuild his life gradually.
Coote’s career has faced significant setbacks alongside his legal troubles. Judge Shant acknowledged his “spectacular fall from grace” while addressing him, highlighting the contrast between his current circumstances and his former high-profile status. In 2024, Coote was dismissed after videos from 2020 resurfaced, including derogatory remarks about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. Earlier, in August the previous year, the FA had suspended him for eight weeks due to that footage. Additionally, European football’s governing body, Uefa, banned him until June 30 following images of Coote appearing to snort a white powder during Euro 2024 in Germany. In January 2025, Coote publicly came out as gay, attributing his earlier outburst about Klopp to a long-standing struggle with concealing his sexuality. Besides his suspended sentence and prevention order, Coote was also sentenced to complete 150 hours of unpaid work. Judge Shant warned that any breach of the order or further sexual offenses could result in him being brought back to court
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