Sydney guard charged with murder

A female security guard in Sydney who shot dead a man who attacked and tried to rob her has been charged with murder, Australian police said.

Karen Brown is said to have suffered a fractured skull, a broken nose and left hand, and possible brain damage after William Aquilina attacked her.

He was attempting to steal A$30,000 ( US $21,000) in takings from the Moorebank Hotel in south-west Sydney.

Ms Brown, 42, was interviewed by detectives on Monday.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Ken Moroney said she had been handed a court attendance notice to appear at Liverpool Local Court on 13 September.

I'm extremely disappointed... at the way in which some media outlets have approached this whole issue Ken Moroney, NSW Police Commissioner

"The court attendance notice is akin to a summons... legal proceedings are now underway," he said.

The incident, which happened on 26 July, is being covered extensively in the Australian media, where there has been widespread sympathy for Ms Brown.

But she has angered the authorities by reportedly accepting money for media interviews while refusing to talk to police on health grounds.

"I'm extremely disappointed, more than anything else, at the way in which some media outlets have approached this whole issue," New South Wales Police Commissioner Ken Moroney told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

He said the matter should now be handled through the court system.

"We need to allow police to look at the facts as we have been able to gather them, both forensically and through other witnesses," he told ABC News.

As an employee of a security firm, Ms Brown was licensed to carry a gun.