The SDLP has criticised a decision by the British Ministry of Defence to award paratrooper Mr Lee Clegg over £25,000 sterling for lost earnings while serving a prison sentence in connection with the deaths of Ms Karen Reilly and Mr Martin Peake, who were killed while in a stolen car. After serving two years of his sentence, Mr Clegg was cleared last year by the Court of Appeal of killing Ms Reilly and criminally wounding Mr Peake. The ruling sparked riots in nationalist areas in the North. "This announcement of the award of back-pay gives more importance to conditions of employment than human rights concerns, a very real case of getting priorities wrong," SDLP MLA, Mr Alex Attwood, said.