A French docker sparked a huge security alert just a day after the Paris terror attacks - by putting an air rifle into a bin at Gatwick Airport when he was told he had not paid for his hold luggage, a court heard.

Jerome Chauris, 42, was at Gatwick Airport for an EasyJet flight to Paris when he was told his ticket did not cover the luggage he wished to check in.

But he was cleared after just 16 minutes because jury members found he had 'reasonable excuse' to have been found with the air rifle and lock knife in the check-in area of the airport.

After being told he would not be allowed to board his flight with his suitcase, Mr Chauris began to empty his luggage into a bin, including a black air rifle.

Hove Crown Court heard that Mr Chauris, of Vendome, France, was travelling from New Caledonia, a small French Island in the Pacific Ocean, where he had been working as a docker.

He had travelled from New Caledonia to Japan, before catching a connecting flight to London's Heathrow Airport.

He then caught a National Express bus to Gatwick airport, arriving at around 3am on November 14, 2015. His flight to Paris was scheduled for 4pm.

He was travelling back to France with the air rifle because it was the last object of value he owned.

Giving evidence he told the court the air rifle was legal in New Caledonia, where he was travelling from, and France, where he was travelling to, and he was simply in transit.

Mr Chauris, who was in the French army for 15 years first as a jeep driver and later as a marksman, had travelled from New Caledonia to Japan, before catching a connecting flight to London's Heathrow Aiport.

He then caught a National Express bus to Gatwick airport, arriving at around 3am on November 14, 2015. His flight to Paris was scheduled for 4pm.

Prosecuting Beverley Cherrill said: "He booked his ticket on an EasyJet flight to Paris but he did not book through EasyJet themselves but online through a company called E-Dreams.

"It seems E-Dreams then buy the ticket from EasyJet so act as a sort of broker.

"It turned out that he had not, when he booked his ticket, put for hold luggage. This was a surprise to him and it caused him difficulty because he had no money to pay for excess baggage.

"The staff told him that he either had to discard his case outside the airport or pay for his bag to go into the hold but one of those options had to take place."

When police searched Mr Chauris, they found he also had in his possession a lock knife, which he had been given by the army and used in his work to open pallets.

Jury members were told that Mr Chauris was not found in possession of any ammunition and the air rifle was not loaded.

He did have A3 targets, often using for target practise.

Mr Chauris, who used a French interpreter in court, said: "The air rifle was in my suitcase because it is the last object of value that I have left.

"The lock knife and the air rifle are legal in France and New Caledonia. In New Caledonia you can access any type of arm without any specific authorisation, just a stamp from the mayor's office.

"I am sorry but I was just in transit.

"I didn't even think about it. It was in my case and that was it."

Summing up the evidence for the jury, Recorder George Lawson-Rogers said: "You may find it worrying that he was able to board a plane in New Caledonia and again in Japan with those items in his suitcase.

"But that is not his fault, that is the fault of the authorities which are supposed to keep us safe."

Mr Chauris was cleared of both possession of a dangerous article in any part of an aerodrome in relation to the air rifle and possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place in relation to the lock knife.