Friday's stabbing of a Police officer, the Premier said yesterday.

Premier the Hon. David Saul, who visited Sgt. Ron Beech at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital over the weekend, said crimes involving knives or baseball bats "really need to be taken a little more seriously.

"I'm going to discuss it with my Cabinet colleagues,'' Dr. Saul told The Royal Gazette .

Parliament recently stiffened penalties for crimes involving firearms.

The officer investigating the stabbing of Sgt. Beech, acting Supt. George Jackson, said yesterday that only one man is expected to face charges in connection with the offence, which followed a chase through Hamilton.

`A young man is assisting us with our inquiries and hopefully in the very near future he'll be appearing in court,'' he said.

Sgt. Beech, 49, a 27-year Police veteran, was stabbed in the chest early on Friday morning after chasing two men on a cycle in his Police cruiser.

The rider lost control of the cycle on Ewing Street. He then stabbed Sgt.

Beech and fled after the passenger had left the scene.

"We know who the other person was, but to our knowledge, and from the investigation conducted so far, it does not appear that he committed any criminal acts,'' acting Supt. Jackson said.

Sgt. Beech, who spent time in the intensive care unit over the weekend, was in "fairly stable condition'' yesterday, acting Supt. Jackson said.

Dr. Saul, who visited the hospital along with Commissioner Colin Coxall on Friday, said in his younger days Sgt. Beech was "an active sportsman,'' and "that stood him in good stead.'' "With such a vile thing happening to him, that will help push him through,'' Dr. Saul said.

Asked if Bermuda Police officers carried enough protection, Dr. Saul said he understood the type of baton Police carried was already under review. "I will leave that to the professionals.'' MARILYN POSES A THREAT Marilyn poses a threat Hurricane Marilyn weakened yesterday but remained a potential threat to Bermuda.

The storm's closest approach was expected to be 157 nautical miles northwest of Bermuda at 1 a.m. on Wednesday.

The hurricane, the fourth to hit the Caribbean in as many weeks, tore through the Virgin Islands and eastern Puerto Rico on Saturday, blowing apart homes, tossing parked airplanes into the air and killing at least nine people.

Reduced to a Category I storm with sustained winds of 80 knots, Marilyn was moving north-northwest toward Bermuda at a speed of ten knots.

Meteorologist Mr. George Parkes of the Bermuda Weather Service said Marilyn was following the same path recently taken by Hurricane Luis. But he said Marilyn was a much smaller storm.

Nevertheless, "any hurricane within 200 miles of Bermuda is a concern,'' Mr.

Parkes said.

It was possible Bermuda could experience tropical storm force winds of 35 to 45 knots on Wednesday morning, he said.

But as of last night, no tropical storm watch had been issued. Six of the dead were in St. Thomas, whose population is about 51,000, and two people were killed in St. Croix, the most populous of the Virgin Islands with 55,000 people. One person was killed in Puerto Rico.

US President Bill Clinton declared the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico disaster areas, making them eligible for federal emergency aid.