January 9 – Former Premier League referee David Coote has been handed a suspended prison sentence after a child abuse video was discovered on a laptop seized by police.
The video only came to light after Coote’s refereeing career began to unravel. In late 2024, footage circulated online of him making derogatory remarks about former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, riling up the large majority of online Liverpool fans in the process. He was suspended and later dismissed by PGMOL as a result.
With the spotlight firmly on Coote, further allegations followed in the tabloid press, including claims of drug use and match-fixing, prompting the Football Association to open an investigation. While Coote was cleared of any fixing allegations, the FA’s enquiries uncovered what were described as “conversations of concern”, leading to police involvement.
Police officers subsequently searched his home, seizing a Dell laptop and an external hard drive. Forensic analysis showed the laptop had been used to download the indecent video while Coote was still officiating at the top level.
Coote initially pleaded not guilty when he first appeared in court last September, before changing his plea to guilty a month later. The sentencing hearing on Thursday at Nottingham Crown Court saw the 43-year-old avoid jail but little else had been salvaged.
Coote was handed a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, alongside 150 hours of unpaid work and a sexual harm prevention order lasting until 2036.
The case centred on a Category A video – the most serious level of offence – which had been downloaded and viewed on a hard drive at Coote’s home in Nottinghamshire in January 2020. The footage, lasting just over two minutes, involved a 15-year-old boy.
Passing sentence, Judge Nirmal Shant KC made clear the seriousness of the offence.
“This involved a real child being abused,” she told Coote, warning that any breach of the prevention order would lead to an immediate return to court and potential imprisonment.
In mitigation, Coote’s defence described a prolonged period of instability in his personal life, including mental health difficulties following the breakdown of a relationship and cocaine use beginning in 2019.
The court heard Coote had accepted a police caution for possession of cocaine last year and had described drug use as a ‘coping mechanism’. He has since undertaken therapy – funded by PGMOL – and now sees a psychiatrist weekly.
It was also noted that Coote has taken up work in an administrative role and has publicly acknowledged his sexuality following his dismissal from refereeing.
Judge Shant recognised those steps but offered a blunt assessment of where he now stands, saying Coote had suffered a “spectacular fall from grace…Some might say he has brought it on himself.”
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1767965979labto1767965979ofdlr1767965979owedi1767965979sni@g1767965979niwe.1767965979yrrah1767965979
Source link
Add Comment