(8/31/99)
LONDON (Reuters) - British crime can be nail-biting stuff -- London police said Tuesday they were hunting a man with a penchant for complimenting women on their hands before chewing off a nail or two.
``The suspect is alleged to have approached the victims in the street and praised them on the appearance of their hands and nails,'' a spokesman said.
``He will then either snatch the victim's hands or ask to see them, and attempt to bite off one or more fingernails.''
The suspect -- a tall, black male of about 25 with short, spiky dreadlocks -- has struck at least eighty-four times since December 1997, most recently in late October.
A letter to a London newspaper revealed the motive behind the nail-biting. The attacker apparently plans to create an entire female skin made solely out of women's fingernails.