Former Premier League referee David Coote received a nine-month prison sentence on Thursday after pleading guilty to possession of a pornographic image of a teenager. The judge converted the detention into voluntary unpaid work.
Coote, 43, was sacked last year by PGMOL, England’s football referees’ association, after a video circulated on social media showing him making derogatory comments about former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp.
That incident triggered further investigations which led to the seizure of Coote’s electronic devices by police in February 2025, prosecutor Jeremy Janes told Nottingham Crown Court.
Janes claimed that Coote had, in January 2020, downloaded a single Category A video, the most serious type, which showed a 15-year-old teenager dressed in school uniform carrying out a sexual act.
The charge of producing an indecent image relates to the downloading, sharing and storing of material, and Janes said there was no evidence that Coote was involved in the production of the video.
Coote pleaded not guilty at his first hearing in September, but changed his plea to guilty the following month.
His lawyer, Laura Jane Miller, said Coote was using cocaine while battling mental health issues at the time of the crime and was “deeply ashamed”.
“He lost his career and his reputation, and both were lost amid intense media scrutiny,” she said.
Justice Nirmal Shant, however, said: “Some might say he brought this on himself.”
The judge told Coote: “You have had a spectacular fall from grace.”
Shant imposed a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered Coote to carry out 150 hours of community work.
