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Matt Taylor and Tom OakleyEast Midlands
Joe Giddens/PA Wire
David Coote appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday morning
Former Premier League referee David Coote has pleaded guilty to making an indecent image of a child.
The 43-year-old appeared at Nottingham Crown Court over an allegation relating to a category A video, the most serious kind, recovered by police in February.
Coote, from Woodhill Road, Collingham, Nottinghamshire, was granted conditional bail ahead of an appearance on11 December.
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."
The court heard Coote extracted the video from a hard drive to a laptop on 2 January 2020.
'Serious matter'
He previously pleaded not guilty to the charge at a hearing on 10 September at Nottingham Magistrates' Court.
Coote, who wore a navy suit and black tie, spoke only to confirm his name and enter his plea during the six-minute hearing in front of Judge Nirmal Shant KC.
He was sacked last year when comments made in a video about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in 2020 came to light.
The judge told Coote she was ordering a pre-sentence report to be carried out before sentencing.
Judge Nirmal Shant KC said: "You must not go away with the impression that this will not lead to a custodial sentence."
In August this year, Coote was given an eight-week suspension by the Football Association over the Klopp footage.
The charge of making an indecent image of a child refers to activities such as downloading, sharing or saving photos or videos containing abuse.
