Elizabeth Dangerfield told police her brother Dallas had punched her in the face. But in the witness box at his trial, Ms Dangerfield told a different story.

Someone else had accidentally pushed her into a door, she said. Then she refused to answer the police prosecutor's questions altogether.

Silence from the domestic violence complainant amounted to contempt of court, a Lismore Local Court magistrate found in July last year. Proceedings against Ms Dangerfield began in the Supreme Court but a year later the matter remains unresolved.

If convicted, Ms Dangerfield faces punishments including a fine and a maximum 28 days' jail.

She testified during her brother's trial for common assault that she had made up the story about him punching her in the nose. She said it was a drunken attempt to take back her children, whom Mr Dangerfield was looking after.