Man who tried to kill uniformed army officer in knife attack sentenced

A man who repeatedly stabbed a uniformed army officer with two knives has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of seven years and 162 days.

Anthony Esan, 25, who was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court, had pleaded guilty to attempted murder and possessing two bladed weapons in January.

The judge said that Esan - who experts agreed had schizophrenia at the time of the attack - would be detained in hospital for as long as necessary.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teeton, who was targeted in the street near Brompton Barracks in Chatham, Kent, in July 2024, told the three day sentencing hearing on Monday he was grateful to be alive.

The assault left him with a large wound to the right side of his neck, stab wounds to the front and back of his chest and abdomen, and more wounds on his lower abdomen, right groin, right upper arm, and left thigh.

The soldier said he was told by medical staff that it was a "miracle" he had survived.

Sentencing Esan, Mr Justice Picken said: "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."

Fusilier Rigby, 25, was killed by extremists in 2013 near the Royal Artillery Barracks in southeast London, when he was off duty.

The judge added that Esan's schizophrenia did not absolve him of responsibility for his crime.

He said: "The psychotic disorder is part of the context for the attack but it is not the entire context, since the context also includes the fact that you targeted Mr Teeton, and that you did so having carried out searches in relation to other knife attacks, including most notably the killing of Lee Rigby, another soldier."

He continued: "You are unlikely ever to be released back into the community where there is a risk of reoccurrence."

Speaking outside the court, Lt Col Teeton said: "We welcome the sentence that has been handed to my attacker today as it reflects an incredible bank of evidence gathered by the police and presented by our barrister of the premeditation and planning involved in the attack against myself, an officer wearing British military uniform.

"Knife attacks do not just impact the victim, they impact the families and communities where attacks occur.

"We feel the pain caused by every knife attack that we see on the news, and our thoughts will always be with those affected."

The soldier, a serving officer of 26 years experience, who was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for two tours each, praised those who helped him, including his wife Eileen, for their "courage".

During the sentencing, the court heard how Mrs Teeton had rushed to a soldier lying on the ground outside the family home, unaware it was her husband.

She had pushed Esan off him before realising he had a knife. She "felt a wave of terror" and that she may need to run for her life, but he chose not to go after her.

In her victim impact statement, Mrs Teeton said her husband asked her in hospital if people at work knew what his attacker had "tried to do to me".

When she asked what Esan had tried to do, he replied: "Cut my head off. Like Lee Rigby."

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Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC called the attack "vicious and deliberate", and told the court that Lt Col Teeton had been targeted because of his appearance as a soldier.

Esan had conducted online searches on knives, a terrorist attack that happened in West Africa, and searched "Woolwich soldier murdered", which Ms Morgan said was a reference to the 2013 attack.

Ms Morgan said Esan had asked Lt Col Teeton if he could borrow his phone because his moped had broken down and he needed to call for assistance.

Nigeria-born Esan, who moved to the UK in 2009, then used two knives to inflict multiple stab wounds when Lt Col Teeton was distracted.

Detective Inspector Lee Neiles, from Kent Police, said the attacker was an "extremely dangerous man" who wanted to kill, regardless of the impact on his victim's family and friends, and the wider community.

He said: "Esan has provided no explanation or motive for his actions, but the evidence shows that he was intent on killing a uniformed soldier."

Esan had made several failed attempts to join the British Army, including in 2021 when he was rejected for "psychotic disorder" and eczema, having reported to mental health services the year before that he was hearing voices.

(c) Sky News 2026: Man who tried to kill uniformed army officer in knife attack sentenced