David Coote pleads not guilty to making indecent image of child
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David Coote has pleaded not guilty to a charge of making an indecent image of a child.
The former Premier League referee, 43, submitted his plea in person at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
Coote is accused of making one indecent Category A video of a child in January 2020.
Category A is the most serious of the categories, and the charge relates to acts such as downloading, sharing, and saving material.
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As reported by The Mirror, Ben Payne, prosecuting, said that the matter came to light after an independent company examined two mobile phones and allegedly found "two conversations of concern."
Payne added that a laptop was seized from the ex-referee's address after Coote was arrested.
The Category A image was discovered on the laptop in question.
Coote was handed bail by District Judge Gilliam Young on the conditions that he has no contact with any child under the age of 18 or live at an address where a child under the age of 18 is residing.
She said: "You will next appear at Nottingham Crown Court on October 9 for a plea and case management hearing."
Coote is no longer an official
Coote was handed an eight-week suspension by the Football Association over videos that emerged last year, in which he used derogatory language about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
The videos, which were recorded in 2020 but only emerged in 2024, cast the media spotlight firmly onto the official, who has not officiated since.
The FA handed Coote a mandatory eight-week suspension last month, while also imposing a mandatory face-to-face education program.
Coote was fired by PGMOL in 2024, but he was further sanctioned by the FA for an aggravated breach of rule E3.2, because of a reference he made to Klopp's nationality in the video
Coote admitted the FA charge.
In February, UEFA banned Coote from officiating in European competitions until 30 June 2026.
This followed the emergence of a separate video — unrelated to his comments about Klopp's nationality — showing him allegedly sniffing a white powder while on duty at Euro 2024 last summer.