A worshipper has been found guilty of possessing a gun with intent to cause fear after he tried to shoot at a gang who attacked him at a mosque prayer meeting.

Amir Khan, 27, of Ladypool Road, Birmingham, was convicted unanimously by a jury at Chichester Crown Court.

But Khan, who had denied both charges, was cleared of intending to endanger life.

Judge Anthony Thorpe adjourned the case for sentencing until March 5.

Irshad Sheikh, prosecuting, said Khan pulled the gun from his waistband, aimed it an elder from the mosque in Crawley and pulled the trigger before he was bundled to the ground.

The semi-automatic pistol jammed during the incident in June last year, the court was told. No one was hurt.

The attack on Khan revolved around allegations that a married woman within the local Muslim community had been having an affair.

Mr Sheikh said Sussex Police stationed officers outside the mosque in Pelham Road on June 28 following an incident earlier in the day involving Muslims at a local school.

Towards the end of the 45-minute prayer meeting, worshippers heard a fracas.

Worshipper Ikhlaq Rafiq, who was about to read a prayer, left to see what was going on. He saw three men beating another man. One was using a belt.

With the help of others, Mr Rafiq managed to push those involved into a car park outside the mosque.

Then Khan pulled the gun from his trousers and aimed it at the group who had been attacking him.

Mr Sheikh said: "By good fortune, perhaps through spiritual intervention, or more likely because there was a fault with the gun, it jammed."

It was later revealed by ballistics experts that the weapon had been modified to fire ball bearings.

In police interview, Khan denied he had taken the gun into the mosque. He claimed it was produced by another man and he prised it from him.