Hugh Grant beats trolls to it by sharing his own mugshot from 1995

Hugh Grant has got one up on his critics by posting his own police mugshot on Twitter.

The Love Actually actor, 59, was arrested in 1995 when he was caught in a car with sex worker Divine Brown, and the mugshot was taken at a police station in Los Angeles.

Grant has been vocal in the run up to the general election – supporting a number of prospective parliamentary candidates and advocating tactical voting to prevent a Conservative majority – which has sparked a backlash among those who don’t share his views.

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But rather than taking it lying down and waiting for people to use his scandal as ammunition against him, the star dug out the image himself and shared it online.

He teased that he hoped he had saved his critics some time.

Tweeting it alongside Brown’s mugshot, he wrote: “To my dear trolls.

“Hope this is helpful.

“Now you have more time to spend with mummy.”

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Grant’s scandal made a huge splash in the entertainment world in 1995.

The Notting Hill star was followed by Hollywood vice squad officers who saw Brown get into his car on Sunset Boulevard. The pair were arrested as they sat in his BMW.

Grant pleaded no contest to lewd conduct and was ordered to pay £800 and given two years' probation.

Not long afterwards he addressed the scandal on US chat show The Tonight Show, telling then host Jay Leno that he did not want to hide behind excuses.

“You know in life what's a good thing to do and a bad thing to do,” he said.

“I did a bad thing and there you have it.”