Two Irishmen have been charged with attempted murder over the shooting of a real estate agent in Melbourne, Australia.

Mark Dixon, 30, and Jack Harvey, 26, appeared before Byron Bay Local Court where police successfully applied for permission to extradite the pair to Melbourne.

Mr Dixon and Mr Harvey did not apply for bail and it was formally refused.

The two men are due before Melbourne Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

Police issued warrants for their arrest after Sid Morgan, a 53-year-old former detective, was shot in the face outside a house in west Melbourne last week.

He was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries and he remains in a critical condition.

Sid Morgan was shot in west Melbourne last week and is in a critical condition

Homicide Squad detectives arrested Mr Dixon and Mr Harvey on Wednesday at Broken Head in New South Wales after a two day manhunt.

A police spokeswoman confirmed Mr Dixon and Mr Harvey are both Irish nationals.

Police issued a Crimestoppers appeal for information on their whereabouts after believing they had fled from Melbourne to Byron Bay in New South Wales.

Detectives issued photos and descriptions of both men and members of the public were urged not to approach them and to call police if they spotted them.

The victim in this case is a well-known figure in Australia.

Mr Morgan is a former police detective who hit the headlines in 1997 when he killed his own brother-in-law who had been charged with molesting three girls.

He went on trial for murder but was acquitted. He was not allowed to re-enter the police force, despite being acquitted of murder.

He reinvented himself as a real estate agent and told the Sydney Morning Herald he had "worked hard to build a new life" for himself.



