An Aboriginal man in Darwin who stole two bottles of wine spent three months in jail in part because of a more serious charge that was eventually withdrawn.

Key points: CCTV footage showed no basis for a charge of robbery

CCTV footage showed no basis for a charge of robbery The more serious charge meant the case took longer to resolve

The more serious charge meant the case took longer to resolve Lawyers say over-charging is an "everyday" problem in the NT

Lawyers say it is a run-of-the-mill situation for the Northern Territory, but one that highlights procedural obstacles and delays that can clog up the courts and strand people in prison.

Wadeye man John Angilitchic, 46, was charged with stealing and robbery in November.

He was very drunk when he entered the Liquorland store in Casuarina and then walked out with two bottles of wine stuffed down his pants, ignoring the store manager who told him to stop.

He pleaded guilty to stealing the alcohol.

But the more serious charge of robbery — which involves the use or threat of violence — was withdrawn in court last week after the defence lawyer had reviewed CCTV and notified the prosecutor that there was no basis for it.

By that time Mr Angilitchic had spent three months behind bars.

The prosecutor did not comment on the late withdrawal of the robbery charge in court. ( ABC News: Stephanie Zillman )

The prosecutor did not comment on the late withdrawal of the charge.

She told the court the stealing was a "brazen" example of offending that is rife in the Northern Territory and should be considered in light of Mr Angilitchic's lengthy record of convictions for petty theft.

But while she told the court that previous sentences had not stopped him reoffending, she said another prison sentence was warranted to try to achieve that.

Mr Angilitchic was sentenced to three months in prison.

Delays, over-charging and under-resourcing 'clogging' courts and jails

The robbery charge that was initially stuck on Mr Angilitchic's case meant it was filed with more serious matters that can take several weeks to process, according to the head legal officer at NAAJA, David Woodroffe.

A robbery charge can carry a presumption against bail under the Northern Territory Bail Act, although it is not clear if that was the only reason Mr Angilitchic was remanded in November.

But the CCTV footage that cleared him of robbery had been available from the beginning.

"What this case illuminates is that matters need to be investigated more quickly and appropriate charges decided upon at a much earlier stage," David Woodroffe said.

Mr Angilitchic's experience is not an isolated one, according to Marty Aust, the president of the NT Criminal Lawyers' Association.

"Every single day people ultimately are let out of jail when charges are withdrawn or plead guilty to a charge far lesser than the most serious charge on their file," he said.

"[Then] they're sentenced to less than the time they've already served."

Northern Territory police are conducting a review of over-charging in relation to youth matters, but did not say when charging in relation to adult offending was last reviewed.

The theft landed Mr Angilitchic in the Darwin Correctional Centre for three months. ( Supplied )

While Mr Aust stressed the need for law reform, David Woodroffe said in the interim the current system is not resourced "so that we do have the bodies, so people are actually looking into the the briefs, so that our courts are not clogged with matters, so that our custody lists are not 50 or 60 matters a day".

Last year, 29 per cent of the Northern Territory's record prison population was on remand, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.