Former Premier League referee Coote given suspended prison sentence for indecent image

Former Premier League referee David Coote was given a suspended prison sentence on Thursday for having a sexual video of a minor on his laptop.

Coote previously pleaded guilty to making an indecent moving image of a child of the most serious kind, Britain’s Press Association reported.

He was sentenced to nine months, which was suspended for two years, at Nottingham Crown Court.

Coote’s electronic devices were seized by police last February and the video of the 15-year-old boy in school uniform from Jan. 2, 2020, was found on the hard drive of the former referee’s laptop.

“You have had a spectacular fall from grace,” judge Nirmal Shant told the 43-year-old Coote, whose arms and hands trembled as a sentence was handed down, PA news reported.

Coote was granted access to an area normally reserved for witnesses before leaving the court building via a private exit marked “probation liaison office.”