Former Premier League referee David Coote has avoided prison time after being found guilty of possessing a sexual video involving a 15-year-old boy in a school uniform on his laptop.
The 43-year-old Coote pleaded guilty to creating an indecent moving image of a child of the highest severity, with the sentencing judge describing his situation as a “spectacular fall from grace.”
During the sentencing at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday, Coote appeared visibly shaken as he was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
In addition, he was ordered to complete 150 hours of community service and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for a decade.
Prosecutors revealed that the two-minute, 11-second video found on his Dell laptop depicted the boy undressing completely before engaging in sexual acts.
The court learned that the footage was uncovered as part of a separate investigation into comments he made regarding former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp in 2020.
Police seized his electronic devices in February of last year, discovering the video of the schoolboy dated January 2, 2020, on his laptop’s hard drive.
In her remarks, Judge Nirmal Shant KC decided against an immediate sentence, cautioning Coote that he had experienced a “spectacular fall from grace.”
She emphasized that videos like the one Coote had obtained “involve a real child being abused,” reminding those who view such materials of the “ongoing damage that results from it.”
Addressing Coote’s mental state, Judge Shant noted, “You have been a lonely man, dealing with a recent relationship breakdown, grappling with mental health issues, and using cocaine.”
Coote was dismissed from Professional Game Match Officials Limited in December 2024 after his controversial comments about Klopp surfaced. In August of last year, the Football Association handed him an eight-week ban for the outburst.
Earlier this year, in an interview with The Sun, Coote publicly came out as gay, attributing some of his struggles with his identity to his remarks about Klopp.