Anthony Esan, 25, pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to attempting to murder Lt Col Mark Teeton near Brompton Barracks in Chatham on 23 July 2024.

As he recovered in hospital, Teeton compared the attack to the murder of Lee Rigby, the soldier who died outside Woolwich barracks in 2013, the court was told.

Witnesses described the attack as "harrowing" and one of the worst things they had ever seen, the court heard.

Teeton suffered serious injuries in the attack and had emergency surgery in hospital, before being discharged.

The chief instructor at the British Army's school of military engineering was dressed in an Army uniform, with boots and beret, at the time.

The prosecution's case is he was targeted in a "vicious and deliberate" attack because of his appearance as a soldier.

Alison Morgan KC, prosecuting, told the court at the start of a three-day sentencing hearing: "The fact that these wounds were not fatal was nothing short of miraculous."

Teeton had been walking back from his barracks at 17:50 BST when Esan asked him if he could use his phone because his moped had broken down, the court heard.

Morgan said it was "obviously a lie", adding: "It's a lie which gives him the ability to disarm, to disarm by distraction, Mr Teeton."

She said Teeton had been concerned Esan would steal his phone, and while he was distracted, the attack began.

The court heard Teeton's wife, Eileen, heard shouts for help and came out of their home, when Teeton was on the ground after suffering a serious wound to his neck.

Morgan said at that point Eileen realised it was her husband.

She said Eileen pulled Esan away, describing her actions as "remarkable".

Mrs Teeton's description of the attack, read out in court, said Esan was "pushing his knife towards Mark's face and neck".

It continued: "I would describe it as if he was trying to carve Mark's face."

The day before the attack, Esan scoped out the area on his moped "looking for a target", the court heard.

On the morning of the attack, Esan watched a documentary about Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of two killings and wounding a man in the US, the court heard.

Morgan said Esan "lied" to his mother about going to look for a job when he left home.

Morgan said packaging for two "Rambo" knives were recovered from his bedroom after the attack.

Esan has also pleaded guilty to possessing two bladed weapons.

The court heard how, before the attack, Esan carried out online searches for knives, and about a terrorist attack that happened in West Africa, as well as TikTok videos of knife attacks in other countries.

Morgan said Esan on 16 July had searched for information on "Woolwich soldier murdered", which she said was a reference to the attack on Lee Rigby.

Esan had made several unsuccessful attempts to join the Army in the years before the stabbing, the court was told.

He first applied in 2020, but that same year had been referred to mental health services as he appeared to be unwell and reported hearing voices.

Reading out a victim-impact statement to the court, Teeton said: "I did not imagine for a moment I would be attacked in such a way on the streets of Britain."

He said medical staff told him it was a "miracle" he had survived.

He was left with a large wound to his neck, stab wounds to the front and back of his chest and abdomen, and wounds in his groin, upper arm and thigh.

At one stage in hospital, Teeton asked his wife: "Do the people at work know what he tried to do to me?"

When his wife asked what he had tried to do, Teeton said it was "like Lee Rigby".

The 25-year-old off-duty soldier had been killed in broad daylight by extremists near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, south-east London.

Teeton, a serving officer in the Army for 26 years, who has been on two tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan, said his attack had left him "wary" of others approaching him.

Morgan told the court that Esan was born in Nigeria and moved to the UK in 2009, living in the Southwark area of London.

Brompton Barracks is the headquarters of the British Army's 1 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment.

The case had been delayed several times amid concerns over Esan's mental health and fitness to plead, but he admitted the charge last month via video link from Broadmoor Hospital.

The sentencing continues.

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