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The sentencing of former Premier League referee David Coote has now ended.

Here's a recap of what happened:

• Coote was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, after admitting making an indecent image of a child
• The 43-year-old was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, lasting 10 years, and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work in the community
• Coote pleaded guilty in October to making a category A indecent image after police found a video on a hard drive connected to his laptop during a search of his home in February last year
• The court heard the image, downloaded in January 2020, was a two-minute video involving a 15-year-old boy in a school uniform
• Sentencing, Judge Nirmal Shant said Coote had suffered a "spectacular fall from grace" and warned him he would be brought back to court if he breached the sexual harm prevention order or committed further offences
• Defence lawyers said Coote had lost his career and reputation, had sought therapy, and was considered as being at low risk of reoffending

Image source, Action Images/Reuters

Coote said he hid his sexuality during his career as a Premier League referee in an interview with The Sun, fearing the abuse he would receive for being gay.

"I'm gay and I have struggled with feeling proud of being 'me' over a long period of time,” he said.

"I have received deeply unpleasant abuse during my career as a ref and to add my sexuality to that would have been really difficult."

Speaking about his sexuality to The Sun, Coote said he felt a "deep sense of shame" during his teenage years and told his parents when he was 21 and his friends when he was 25.

Coote revealed he received death threats during his career, with some also made towards his late mother.

He also said he needed to have an accelerated response tag fitted at his home address so he could speak to police in an emergency.

The 43-year-old is a former football referee, who officiated his first Premier League match in April 2018.

Coote, from Woodhill Road, Collingham, Nottinghamshire, is registered as a Notts County fan with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).

He was in charge of more than 100 top-flight games.

Coote was sacked in 2024 when comments made in a video about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in 2020 came to light.

In January 2025, Coote came out as gay in an interview with The Sun and said a lifelong struggle to hide his sexuality had contributed to a rant about Klopp.

Image source, Getty Images

Following the conclusion of the case, Judge Nirmal Shant told Coote he is free to leave Nottingham Crown Court.

Coote's hands appeared to be shaking as he left the dock following the hearing.

Coote has also been ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Judge Shant asked the former referee to stand before addressing him.

She said: "If you breach this order in any way, if there are any further offences - particularly sexual offences - you will be subject to being brought back to court."

Image source, Action Images/Reuters

Addressing Coote ahead of sentencing him, Judge Nirmal Shant said: "David Coote, you have had a spectacular fall from grace."

She told him the starting point for such an offence is one year of imprisonment, with the range between 26 weeks and three years.

Judge Shant added: "You came to the attention of police following an investigation into your conduct while being employed as a professional referee.

"You had been filmed making comments [about] the then Liverpool Football Club manager. The present allegations are unrelated to that but they did lead to the police coming to your home in February last year.

"They found a laptop and a hard drive [which had] been connected to the laptop on 2 January.

"At the time you told police they would find cocaine that you had for your personal use - you have been cautioned for that.

"Those who commit this sort of offence must realise they involve a real child and that causes them damage."

Coote has been sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, and given a sexual harm prevention order lasting 10 years.

Continuing to defend Coote, Miller said he had since undertaken therapy and had regularly been seeing a psychiatrist.

She said he had not taken cocaine since his arrest 11 months ago and was at low risk of reoffending.

He now works within an administrative role and has done so for the past few months, the court heard.

Miller said: "His life is a far cry from where it was at the height of his career."

Defending Coote, Laura Jane Miller said when he downloaded the image, the former referee was having personal and mental health difficulties.

She said: "This offence took place - looking at the dates - some six years ago now. At this time the defendant had an outward persona and was a very successful football referee.

"At that time, there was an internal struggle with personal difficulties and an issue with his mental health. That followed the breakdown of a relationship and those personal struggles spiralled."

She said that he started using cocaine in 2019, and since 2020 he had "lost his career and his reputation".

Miller added: "He has gone under intense media scrutiny. He has shown remorse for this offending to the probation service and says he is deeply ashamed by his actions."

The court has heard that analysis of Coote's devices showed that the Dell laptop had been connected to the hard drive and had made - in the sense of being downloaded and viewed on the screen - a category A moving image.

That image lasted two minutes and 11 seconds and is of a 15-year-old boy. That boy was sitting on the bathroom floor wearing his school uniform.

The court heard the defendant was interviewed about these matters following the arrest and he answered "no comment".

He was cautioned in 2025 for possession of cocaine, the court was told.

Prosecuting, Jeremy James, has started the proceedings by giving a summary of the case.

He said Coote's behaviour came to light following an investigation into his conduct when he was employed as a referee by the Football Association.

James said: "He had been filmed making comments about Jurgen Klopp - those comments went viral and put him into the spotlight.

"There was a wider interest and investigation into his conduct by various tabloid newspapers."

As a result of that interest, the police went to his address in February last year and seized and analysed his devices, the court heard.

That included a Dell laptop and a Toshiba hard drive.

After Coote pleaded guilty to the charge in October, Judge Nirmal Shant KC ordered a pre-sentence report and said: "You have pleaded guilty to a serious matter. Whether this means custody or not will be decided when all the information is before the court.

"You must not go away with the impression that this will not lead to a custodial sentence."

In October, David Coote pleaded guilty to making an indecent image of a child.

This charge related to a category A video, the most serious kind, which was recovered by police in February.

The court heard Coote extracted the video from a hard drive to a laptop on 2 January 2020.

The charge of making an indecent image of a child refers to activities such as downloading, sharing or saving photos or videos containing abuse.

Members of the press and the public have filed into court for David Coote’s sentencing this morning.

Coote, 43, is wearing a dark blue check suit and was carrying a bag.

He is in the dock and the sentencing hearing is now under way.

David Coote was photographed arriving at the front of Nottingham Crown Court earlier.

He will be sentenced by Judge Nirmal Shant later this morning.

Image source, Action Images/Reuters

We're at Nottingham Crown Court where we're expecting the sentencing of former Premier League referee David Coote to start shortly.

He admitted making an indecent image of a child in October.