A PSYCHOTIC bodybuilder obsessed with Batman's arch nemesis the Joker has admitted carrying out a terrifying unprovoked axe attack on a stranger in a public gym.

Former chef Dale Pipe asked "Why so serious?" - the phrase uttered by Heath Ledger's character in The Dark Knight  - immediately after attacking a fellow leisure centre user.

The deranged 20-year-old had armed himself with an axe as well as kitchen and craft knives, before targeting a 22-year-old man at Belle Vue Leisure Centre in Consett, County Durham, in January.

The victim, who was using a urinal when he was attacked, suffered 16 wounds to the head, neck and chest.

Pipe was overpowered by leisure centre staff who bundled him into a changing room toilet and called police.

Meanwhile, Pipe, barricaded inside the toilet, used his mobile phone to post the chilling words "Why So Serious!!! Hahahahaha" in a macabre reference to the maniac Joker, who used a blade to lethal effect in the hit movie.

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Weeks earlier, Pipe, who previously worked at the Derwent Manor Hotel, near Shotley Bridge, also revealed online he had completed the violent Batman computer game Arkham City and said it was "100 per cent the best game I’ve ever played".

Police said the case had disturbing similarities to last summer’s Colorado cinema massacre in the US when  24-year-old James Holmes shot dead 12 people and injured dozens more while dressed as the Joker.

Appearing at Newcastle CRown Court, Pipe, of Thornfield Road, The Grove, Consett, admitted attempted murder as well as three charges of possessing an offensive weapon.

The court heard his mental condition is being assessed to see if it is appropriate for him to be sent to Rampton Secure Hospital, in Nottinghamshire, after sentencing on June 24.

His solicitor, Stephen Thornton said: “Professor Don Grubin concluded he was highly psychotic at the time and remains so.”

Pipe, who appeared via videolink from Durham Prison, was remanded into custody.

Judge James Goss, Recorder of Newcastle, said: “This is a case where the pressing matter is a proper investigation into his mental health.

“I am not in a position to take this case further today because significant medical investigation has to be undertaken.”