A TEENAGER whose friend was shot dead in a takeaway is using fashion to fight gun crime.

Designer Richard Purbrick, 19, was devastated when promising young footballing pal Halton McCollin was killed.

Richard had already seen another friend shot but not killed in an incident in Withington.

Now Richard, from Burnage, is using his talent to influence young people in a positive way - by creating urban fashion that carries an anti-gun message.

He said: "I’ve wanted to come up with an urban clothing line for a while and all the recent gun problems got me thinking.

"I want my designs to get young people excited. They will be credible but will all carry anti-gun messages."

His plan is closer to becoming reality through his involvement in a competition aimed at developing young people’s business skills.

Richard entered The Big Leap, a contest run by Manchester-based social enterprise Striding Out and was one of seven budding entrepreneurs chosen to take his idea forward.

The winners attended an Apprentice-style boot camp held at Innospace, part of the Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, which helped them develop business plans.

Richard, who hopes to study design next year at Liverpool John Moore’s University, is now getting his designs turned into clothing and stocked in shops across Greater Manchester. Once Richard - a former pupil of Trinity High School and Cheadle and Marple College - has secured funding, he will start selling T-shirts, moving on to hoodies and baseball caps. Shops in Manchester, Stockport and Didsbury have shown an interest in stocking his work.

Heather Wilkinson, from Striding Out, said: "Richard has a great idea and determination." A reward of £20,000 has been offered to anybody who helps convict the killer of Halton McCollin.

Halton, 20, who lived in Stretford, was hit in the head by a bullet when two masked men burst into the China Garden takeaway in Stretford and fired three times.