A uniformed army officer who was repeatedly stabbed with two knives told his wife that his attacker had tried to "cut my head off like Lee Rigby", a court has heard.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teeton, who was targeted in the street near Brompton Barracks in Chatham, Kent, in July 2024, told Maidstone Crown Court on Monday he was grateful to be alive.

The assailant Anthony Esan, 25, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and possessing two bladed weapons in January.

Lt Col Teeton tearfully told the court during the first day of an expected three-day sentencing hearing that he was "forever in gratitude" to the "heroes" who came to his aid during the attack in Sally Port Gardens.

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.

He said: "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."

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".

"They are all heroes, and I am forever in gratitude to them," he said.

Wife stares down husband's attacker

Mrs Teeton stared down at Esan in court as she described how she had rushed to help a soldier on the ground before realising it was her husband.

"I watched horrified by his continued savage attack, and realised it was my husband on the ground," she said.

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."

The off-duty soldier, 25, was killed by extremists in 2013 near the Royal Artillery Barracks in southeast London.

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Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC called the 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.

The sentencing continues.

(c) Sky News 2026: Soldier repeatedly stabbed in street compared assault to Lee Rigby attack, court hears