Ex-referee David Coote had sexual video of boy, 15, in school uniform – court

Former Premier League referee David Coote had a sexual video of a 15-year-old boy in school uniform on his laptop, a court has heard.

The 43-year-old appeared for his sentencing hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday, where prosecutors said the clip was found after a separate probe into comments he made about ex-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in 2020.

The court heard Coote’s electronic devices were seized by police in February last year, and the video of the schoolboy from January 2, 2020, was found on the hard drive of his Dell laptop.

Prosecutors said the two minute, 11 second-video showed the boy undress until he was completely naked before performing sexual acts on himself.

Coote, of Woodhill Road in Collingham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty in October to making a category A indecent moving image of a child, the most serious kind.

The court heard the former referee answered no comment to relevant questions in police interview in February last year, and was cautioned after officers found cocaine in his house in the same month.

Prosecutor Jeremy Janes said the offence of making a category A image can lead to a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Coote was sacked by Professional Game Match Officials Limited in December 2024 after a video of comments he had made about Klopp came to light.

In August last year he was given an eight-week suspension by the Football Association over the rant about the former Liverpool manager.

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