Two German men on a cultural visit to Britain were arrested after they tried to enter Lewes Crown Court carrying a 4.5in knife and CS gas canister.
The foreign students, aged 19 and 60, were with a group of 35 German nationals visiting the court's public gallery to broaden their understanding of the English judicial system.
But they found themselves on the wrong side of the law when a metal detector sounded and they were stopped by security staff - who discovered the illegal weapons in their pockets.
Police took the pair into custody on suspicion of carrying prohibited weapons.
They were interviewed yesterday at Eastbourne police station and later received an official police caution after they admitted the offences.
The men, who are temporarily living in Falmer, Brighton, travelled into the UK on a ferry via Dover on Monday.
The lock knife and CS gas canister were brought into the country from Germany and have now been confiscated by police.
A police spokesman said: "They gave no reason why they were carrying them when they were interviewed. They just said they were carrying them and they did not know they were illegal."
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