Beansy on the loose: Grant's a free man

Jun 4, 2007, 11:20 GMT

"Beansy" EPA/SOEREN STACHE

Hugh Grant will not be charged for his baked beans outburst.

The 'Music and Lyrics' star was arrested on April 24 for throwing a tub of baked beans at a photographer and allegedly kicking him, but "insufficient evidence" has been found to charge him.

A spokeswoman for Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said no charges would be brought against Hugh "because there were clear discrepancies between the accounts of independent witnesses and those of the photographers involved."

The spokeswoman said "it is not in the public interest to prosecute" the actor for the beans-related part of the incident.

She added "the minimal nature of the alleged assault and the lack of premeditation on the part of Mr. Grant" also factored in the decision not to prosecute.

Hugh, 46, previously said of the allegations: "This is something being made out of nothing. I'm confident I will be vindicated at the end of this and have not done anything wrong."

The 'Love Actually' star voluntarily handed himself in at London's Notting Hill police station on April 25 where he was arrested and questioned for 30 minutes.

He was bailed and agreed to return for further questioning in May.

Hugh, who was walking near his West London home at 10am when the incident occurred, lashed out when paparazzo Ian Whittaker asked if he could take his picture.

The 43-year-old photographer alleged the actor kicked him three times and kneed him near the groin.

Whittaker said: "It looked like he had been out for a morning jog. I asked him if he would give me a smile because he was standing with his head down. But he must have been having a bad day because he started chasing me down the street.

"He gave me a couple of kicks in the legs and I think he kneed me."

(C) BANG Media International