A deliberate attack on a serving soldier led to a hospital order and a minimum custodial term after psychiatric evidence linked the offence to psychosis and schizophrenia.
Topics covered
The case of the stabbing of Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teeton outside his family home near Brompton Barracks concluded with a sentencing that balances punishment and medical care. At Maidstone Crown Court, the attacker, Anthony Esan, entered a plea and was given a minimum tariff of seven years and 162 days, but will be detained in hospital for as long as clinicians deem necessary.
The incident occurred on July 23 2026, and the facts presented at trial revealed both premeditation and serious mental illness as central factors.
Prosecutors described the assault as a vicious and deliberate attempt to kill a soldier. Evidence shown in court included CCTV that captured the moment Esan approached Lt Col Teeton, asking to use his phone, before launching into a sustained attack using two knives.
The prosecution argued the attack was targeted; psychiatric experts agreed that, while intent to attack a soldier was likely, the principal driver of Esan’s behaviour was ongoing psychosis.
Court findings and psychiatric evidence
Forensic psychiatrists who assessed Esan concluded he was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the offence.
Expert testimony explained how psychotic symptoms can distort perception and motivation, meaning an offender can simultaneously form a deliberate plan and be driven by disordered thought processes. The court accepted that Esan had set out to find a soldier, supported by his internet searches about previous attacks and by the knives he had bought days earlier.
Sentencing remarks by Mr Justice Picken emphasised the targeted nature of the attack: “You were looking for a soldier with the intention that that soldier should die,” referring to Esan’s online research, which included the killing of Lee Rigby. At the same time, medical witnesses advised that Esan remains psychotic and requires long-term psychiatric treatment, which has been provided at Broadmoor Hospital since his arrest.
Victim impact and the immediate response
Eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage were central to understanding what happened in Sally Port Gardens. Footage captured Esan parking a moped, approaching Lt Col Teeton as he walked from the barracks, and initiating the attack in the road. The victim, who had served in the British Army for 26 years with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffered multiple stab wounds across the neck, chest, abdomen, groin and limbs, and was later told by medical staff that his survival bordered on a miraculous outcome.
Lt Col Teeton paid tribute to those who intervened. In court he described being “forever in gratitude” to his wife, Eileen, and several strangers whose quick actions helped save his life. Mrs Teeton ran to her husband, pushed Esan away and later described a moment of terror when she realised the attacker had a knife. The prosecution called her intervention “remarkable,” and witnesses recounted the chaotic scene and the decisive help that stopped further harm.
Witness accounts and courtroom evidence
Bodycam and street CCTV provided a timeline: Esan asked to use a phone, then produced blades and repeatedly stabbed Lt Col Teeton as he attempted to escape. Additional video from a vehicle recorded Esan pursuing the officer and continuing the assault. In a hospital interview reported during the hearing, the victim recalled Esan saying he intended to “cut my head off like Lee Rigby,” a statement that underpinned the prosecution’s portrayal of deliberate intent informed by extremist examples found online.
Background, mental health history and sentence
Esan emigrated from Nigeria to the UK in 2009. He lived in Southwark before his family moved to Kent in 2026. The court heard that he had tried to join the British Army several times since 2026 and that concerns about his mental health date back to that year. He reported hearing voices and had contact with mental health services; his mother raised alarm in January 2026 when she reported finding knives in his bag. Experts said he began to entertain violent fantasies around 18 months before the attack.
At sentencing, the judge imposed a minimum term of seven years and 162 days, while ordering that Esan be detained in hospital under mental health legislation for indefinite treatment. Forensic psychiatrists explained that, despite treatment at Broadmoor, his symptoms persist and he will require ongoing care. The combination of a prison tariff and a hospital order reflects the court’s task of addressing both the seriousness of the crime and the continuing clinical risk.
Legal and public implications
The case highlights the intersection of violent crime, mental illness and public safety. It raises questions about early intervention when someone shows signs of severe psychiatric disorder, the risks of violent fantasy becoming reality, and how the criminal justice system navigates sentences when an offender is mentally unwell. The court’s decision underlines both condemnation of deliberate violence and the necessity of specialist treatment when psychosis is central to offending behaviour.
Esan pleaded guilty in January ahead of a planned trial for the attack and possession of two bladed weapons. At the sentencing hearing he appeared in court accompanied by staff from Broadmoor and a custody officer. The outcome ensures he will remain under hospital care until clinicians assess it safe for any change, while the minimum term sets the baseline for the penal aspect of the sentence.
