A former SAS soldier caught drink-driving for a third time has been sentenced.

Lindsay Rodger, 35, of Glentilt Terrace, Perth, admitted making a "ridiculous error of judgment" by getting behind the wheel when he had already been banned twice before.

Rodger was ordered to complete 225 hours' unpaid work after telling a sheriff he was getting help to tackle post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He was also banned from driving for 45 months.

Sheriff William Wood said: "I am surprised someone with your background of military service and so on should have shown such a lack of judgment.

"There will come a time, if you keep behaving like this, that you will be sent to prison for a driving offence. If alcohol is an issue then you must continue to engage with Combat Stress.

"If you are drinking to mask post-traumatic stress disorder you have to get a handle on it."

Solicitor Katie Malcolm, defending, told Perth Sheriff Court the father-of-two had previously served as a soldier for the Black Watch and the SAS.

She said it would disrupt the household he shared with his wife and baby daughter if his liberty was taken away and he was jailed for the latest offence.

Sheriff Jim McDonald previously warned him: "You may consider it in your interests to get your affairs in order.

"You have two directly analogous previous convictions from 2011 and 2014.

"As this is the third time since 2011 you have committed an offence of this nature I am deferring sentence because I am seriously considering whether or not to send you to prison."

Rodger admitted driving near his home on May 7 while he was nearly double the legal limit.

He had previously been banned for two years in February 2011 and for three years in October 2014 for other drink-driving offences.