Man charged over stabbing of uniformed Army officer

A 24-year-old man has been charged with the attempted murder of an Army officer in uniform near a barracks.

Anthony Esan will appear in court on Thursday over the attack on Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teeton, in Gillingham, Kent, on Tuesday.

The serviceman, in his 40s, is in hospital in a serious but stable condition after being repeatedly stabbed.

Esan, who was arrested near his home in nearby Rochester, has also been charged with possessing an offensive weapon in a public place and will appear at Medway Magistrates’ Court.

Sally Port Gardens where police said the incident took place is near Brompton Barracks, the headquarters of the British Army’s 1 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment.

The attack happened at around 5.55pm on Tuesday, with the suspect being arrested around 25 minutes later.

Lt Col Teeton is a chartered engineer working as a course manager in the Army’s Corps of Royal Engineers, according to a LinkedIn page, which shows he has worked in various roles in the armed forces going back to 2001.

Earlier this year he raised nearly £2,500 for Combat Stress, a veterans mental health charity, by running the D-Day challenge in Normandy in June, a fundraising page showed.