Man who tried to kill Army officer to be detained in hospital after being given life sentence

A 25-year-old man has been handed a life sentence for attempting to murder a uniformed Army officer in a "vicious and deliberate" attack near a barracks in Kent.

Anthony Esan will be detained in hospital indefinitely after repeatedly stabbing Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teeton with two knives in Sally Port Gardens, near Brompton Barracks, Chatham, on July 23 2024.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Esan, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, received a minimum term of seven years and 162 days.

However, he will remain in hospital for as long as medical professionals deem necessary. The prosecution highlighted that Esan had purchased a set of knives days before the assault and had searched online for details of previous attacks, including the murder of soldier Lee Rigby.

Forensic psychiatrists told the court that while Esan likely intended to target a soldier, his actions were primarily driven by psychosis.

Sentencing him on Friday, Mr Justice Picken stated: "The attack on Mr Teeton was targeted and deliberate. You were looking for a soldier with the intention that that soldier should die, as underlined by the fact you had looked up the killing of Lee Rigby on the internet."

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During the four-day sentencing, harrowing details emerged of the attack. Lt Col Teeton’s wife, Eileen Teeton, rushed to a soldier lying on the ground outside their family home, only to realise it was her husband.

She bravely pushed Esan off him, but upon seeing he had a knife, she "felt a wave of terror" and considered fleeing for her life.

In her victim impact statement, Mrs Teeton recounted: "I watched horrified by his continued savage attack, and realised it was my husband on the ground and he was carving at his face and neck."

The prosecution praised her actions as "remarkable". Mrs Teeton also shared her husband's words from his hospital bed: "Do the people at work know what he tried to do to me?" When asked what he meant, he replied: "Cut my head off! Like Lee Rigby."

Footage shown in court captured Esan parking his moped and stopping Lt Col Teeton as he walked home from the barracks.

Esan asked the father-of-two if he could use his phone, claiming his moped had broken down, before launching his assault.

Further footage from a car depicted the ongoing attack in the middle of the road, with Esan pursuing and continuing to stab Lt Col Teeton.

Lt Col Teeton, a British Army officer for 26 years with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, tearfully expressed his "forever in gratitude" to the "heroes" who came to his aid, including his wife.

"I still relive the incident in my mind; I actually think it is a blessing that I was unconscious for much of it as it means that I am unable to remember a large part of being attacked," he said.

"I don’t think I will truly appreciate the courage shown by my wife and strangers to thwart the attack and then the quick thinking of an array of people that helped save my life."

Medical staff informed Lt Col Teeton it was a "miracle" he survived, given the extensive wounds to his neck, chest, abdomen, groin, arm, and thigh. He added: "I did not imagine for a moment that I would be attacked in such a way on the streets of Britain, in a place where I felt safe."

The court heard that Esan, who moved to the UK from Nigeria in 2009, had made several unsuccessful attempts to join the British Army since 2020.

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That same year, he was referred to mental health services after reporting hearing voices. In January 2023, his mother contacted an out-of-hours service, concerned he had knives in his bag.

Professor Nigel Blackwood, an expert witness in forensic psychiatry, testified that Esan "began to entertain murderous fantasies 18 months before he enacted them" when he brought knives home.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC noted Esan's "interest" in knives, with packaging for "Rambo" knives found in his bedroom. Since mid-last year, Esan believed he was in the film Kingsman and the video game Cyberpunk, feeling his role was to "deliver and shoot".

Esan, of Mooring Road, Rochester, has been receiving treatment at Broadmoor Hospital. Professor Blackwood confirmed he remains psychotic and will require lifelong treatment.

Esan pleaded guilty to attempted murder and possession of two bladed weapons in January, avoiding a trial scheduled for this month. He appeared in the dock on Friday, flanked by six Broadmoor staff members and a custody guard.