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Heroic wife tried to save her soldier husband from knife attack

Witnesses say Eileen Teeton tried to come to aid of husband Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teeton during attack in Gillingham

Holly Evans
Thursday 25 July 2024 18:57 BST
Eileen Teeton shouted for help as her husband Lt Col Mark Teeton was attacked
Eileen Teeton shouted for help as her husband Lt Col Mark Teeton was attacked (Facebook)

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Louise Thomas

Louise Thomas

Editor

The wife of a British Army soldier who screamed for help and tried to drag her husband’s attacker away from him has been named for the first time.

Eileen Teeton had rushed out of the couple’s family home in Sally Port Gardens in Gillingham, Kent, after Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teeton was stabbed.

Doorbell camera footage from neighbours caught her distressed cries for help as she could be heard screaming: “What are you doing, oh my god.”

Lt Col Mark Teeton was stabbed repeatedly outside his home near Brompton Barracks
Lt Col Mark Teeton was stabbed repeatedly outside his home near Brompton Barracks (Facebook)

A long-serving member of the armed forces, Lt Col Teeton was airlifted to hospital and remains in a serious but stable condition.

One eyewitness told The Independent that Mrs Teeton had been “hysterically screaming” and had been shouting for first-aiders while saying that “my husband has been stabbed”.

Kind-hearted locals helped to provide life-saving first aid to the wounded soldier, while his wife was said to have “collapsed in her arms crying”.

The father-of-two has been a course manager for almost six years at the 1 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment, having served in the army since 2001.

Anthony Esan arriving at Medway Magistrates Court
Anthony Esan arriving at Medway Magistrates Court (PA)

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.

Anthony Esan, who was arrested near his home in nearby Rochester, was later charged with Lt Col Teeton’s attempted murder and with possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

Prosecutor Rajni Prashar told the court: “A member of the public called 999 to report a male had been stabbed.

“It was then reported that the victim was a soldier in uniform.”

He appeared at Medway Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and was remanded in custody. He will next appear at Maidstone Crown Court on 22 August.

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