A man who repeatedly stabbed a uniformed army officer with two knives has been sentenced to life in prison with 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.

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, his lower abdomen, right groin, right upper arm and left thigh.

Lt Col Teeton, a serving officer for 26 years who has been on two tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan, praised those who helped him, including his wife Eileen, for their “courage”.

In her victim impact statement, Mrs Teeton said her husband asked her in hospital if people at work knew what he “tried to do to me”.

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

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

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Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC called Esan’s 2024 attack “vicious and deliberate”, and told the court that Lt Col Teeton had been targeted because of his appearance as a soldier.

In the lead up to the attack, 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.

When Lt Col Teeton was distracted, Eras used two knives to inflict multiple stab wounds.

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

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