The wife of a senior army officer who was stabbed multiple times outside his barracks in Kent may have saved his life by screaming at the attacker and attempting to drag him away. Eileen Teeton rushed from her home to find her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teeton, 47, being attacked by a masked assailant wielding two large kitchen knives.
Neighbours reported that the attacker stabbed Lt Col Teeton about 12 times with knives measuring nine to ten inches. The assailant ignored the wife's efforts to intervene, focusing solely on the soldier. The father of two was airlifted to hospital, where he remains in a serious but stable condition.
Anthony Esan, 24, has been charged with attempted murder and remanded in custody after appearing in court. Kent Police are investigating possible motives, including mental health issues and any links between the suspect and the location of the assault. Several knives were seized from Esan's home in Rochester, where he was arrested shortly after the attack.
Head of the Army, General Sir Roly Walker, condemned the stabbing as 'horrific and unprovoked', while Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed being 'shocked and appalled'. Witnesses described hearing screams and seeing the victim on the ground, with blood everywhere. One neighbour's Ring doorbell captured the wife's cries for help.
Lt Col Teeton, a chartered engineer and course manager in the Army's Corps of Royal Engineers, had previously raised nearly £2,500 for the veterans' mental health charity Combat Stress. Security at the base was temporarily heightened following the attack but has since returned to normal.
