Soldier fights back tears as he praises ‘hero’ wife for fighting off knifeman who tried to ‘cut my head off like Lee Rigby’

A soldier stabbed outside barracks today paid tribute to his ‘heroic’ wife for tackling a knifeman who tried to ‘chop my head off like Lee Rigby’.

Lt. Col. Mark Teeton choked back tears as he recalled how a knife-wielding stranger intent on killing Fusilier Lee Rigby lunged at him outside a barracks, stabbing him a dozen times and ‘carving out’ his face and neck.

Anthony Esan, 24, who was rejected by the army, was lurking outside Brompton Barracks with several kitchen knives after watching TikTok videos of knife attacks, including the murder of the 25-year-old soldier near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich in 2013.

The 24-year-old Nigerian had been rejected from the army several times before due to his ‘psychotic disorder’ and eczema.

Maidstone Crown Court heard today how the cannabis addict was discharged from the mental health intervention service to a ‘low intensity support team’ just days after purchasing a pack of knives from Argos in preparation for the attack.

He then targeted Lieutenant Col Teeton on random days on 23 July 2024, attacking the first uniformed soldier he encountered in a ‘wicked and deliberate’ attack.

The victim was on his way home, just 100 meters from the barracks in Gillingham, Kent, when Esan asked if he could use his phone after his moped broke down.

When the lieutenant colonel stopped to help, Esan suddenly lunged forward and stabbed the victim a dozen times in the neck, abdomen, chest and groin, causing internal damage to his voice box, right lung, liver and abdominal wall.

Lieutenant Teeton only survived when his wife, Eileen, who was a few meters away in the backyard of their home, heard the screams and rushed to her husband’s aid.

The army rejected Anthony Esan, 24, and lurked outside Brompton Barracks with several kitchen knives after watching TikTok videos of knife attacks, including the murder of Lee Rigby.

Maidstone Crown Court was told Esan bought a pack of knives from Argos in preparation for the attack

The 47-year-old man only survived when his wife, Eileen, who was a few meters away in the backyard of their home, heard the screams and ran to her husband’s aid.

Today, she told the court how she ran to the aid of a soldier lying on the ground, pushed the knifeman, but in a ‘wave of terror’ she realized it was her husband.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Teeton said: ‘I watched in horror as he continued his brutal attack and realized it was my husband lying on the ground and he had cut his face and neck.’

He added: ‘He was not a soldier; He was Mark, my husband, my father, my brother, my uncle, my colleague, a friend to so many people who almost lost him, but thanks to the courage and dedication of so many heroes who saved his life.

‘We will live with this forever, the scars will fade away but your attack will never fade away.’

The piercing screams he heard as he fought with the knifeman and shouted “Get rid of him” were captured on a doorbell recording. What are you doing? What the hell are you doing?’

Esan made eye contact with Miss Teeton before running away.

While her husband lay covered in blood, Mrs. Teeton tried to protect her eldest daughter when she arrived at the scene a short time later.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan, KC, said it was a miracle the Lieutenant Colonel survived.

The victim, who was in the British Army for 26 years and served in Iraq and Afghanistan, later asked his wife in hospital: ‘Do people at work know what he’s trying to do to me? Cut off my head! Like Lee Rigby.’

Today, choking back tears, she said: ‘I still relive the incident in my mind; In fact, I think it’s a blessing that I’m unconscious most of the time, because it means I can’t remember much of being attacked.

Fusilier Lee Rigby was killed near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich in 2013, aged 25.

Lieutenant Teeton, unable to hold back his tears, said he still relives the incident in his mind and believes it was a ‘blessing’, and that much of it was unconscious because he ‘couldn’t remember much of being attacked’.

‘I don’t think I would have ever truly appreciated the bravery it took my partner and strangers to thwart the attack, and then the quick thinking of a number of people who helped save my life.

‘They are all heroes and I am forever grateful to them.’

He added: ‘I never imagined for a moment that I would be so attacked on the streets of England, in a place where I felt safe.’

Esan fled the scene on his motorcycle, leaving behind a shoe and two kitchen knives.

When police caught up with the suspect at his home in Rochester less than an hour later, he was screaming about the devil, his hands covered in blood.

Esan, who moved to London from Nigeria in 2009, had a history of mental health problems and was previously diagnosed with psychosis after experiencing hallucinations.

Esan, accused of attempted murder, asked: ‘Am I free now?’ he asked.

On the first day of the trial, he admitted attempted murder and possessing two bladed weapons.

Esan will be sentenced this week.