A member of the US military’s Human Terrain programme has avoided jail time after being sentenced last week for shooting a restrained Afghan man in the head.

Don Ayala, a contractor on the controversial military social sciences programme, previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Although this crime would normally carry up to eight years of jail time, AP reports, he instead received a $12,500 fine and five years on probation.

Nature has previously called for the programme to be reformed or scrapped, noting, “Questions have been raised about how well the programme vets its employees. Some scientists who have joined the system have complained about inadequate training. And qualified researchers have been dismissed for seemingly trivial reasons, even though much more questionable people seem to breeze onto the payroll.”

Ayala killed Abdul Salam in Afghanistan in November 2008, minutes after an incident in which Salam attacked Human Terrain researcher Paula Loyd, setting her on fire. Loyd later died of her injuries.

On Friday, the New Orleans Times Picayune reported:

There were tears and sighs of relief from friends and supporters of Don Ayala, 46, of New Orleans, when District Court Judge Claude Hilton announced a sentence of five years probation. Hilton said he is sympathetic to the horror Ayala experienced after learning social scientist Paula Loyd had been attacked.

The Human Terrain programme has been mired in controversy. In addition to the death of Loyd and Salam, two other members have been killed in action.