Bobby Brown charged with attacking Whitney

Bobby Brown, the musician, has been charged with attacking his wife, the singer and actress Whitney Houston, causing her facial injuries.

Police said they were called to the couple's home in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta on Sunday evening. Houston, whose hit songs include "I Will Always Love You", told them Brown had struck her.

Houston, 40, "sustained visible injuries to her face, which included a bruise on her left cheek and a cut on her inner upper lip", police said in a written statement. Brown, 34, an original member of music group New Edition, was not at home when they arrived but turned himself in on Wednesday, accompanied by his wife. He was released after he was given a copy of the charge and is to appear in court next month.

Brown, who had hits with "My Prerogative"and "Every Little Step", has a history of run-ins with the law. In August he was jailed in Georgia for violating probation from a 1996 drink-driving conviction. In 2000, he was held in Florida for violating probation after an incident at a nightclub. The same year, he pleaded no contest to charges of kicking a hotel security guard.