LESS than a year ago, David Strawbridge was in a young offenders institution struggling to cope with news of his brother's murder.

But now the 22-year-old from Newport is heading for a promising future, as one of the youngest winners of a 2008 Inspire Adult learners award.

David Strawbridge was serving a sentence for drugs offences last August, when his brother Wesley was beaten to death outside Sainsbury's after a night out in Newport city centre.

His killer Kyle Dolling was jailed for murder earlier this year.

But Mr Strawbridge has not let this tragedy, or his previous mistakes, stop him turning his life around.

Indeed, he says the horror of Wesley's death opened his eyes to what he could be doing with his life.

And he is also motivated by the need to be a good role model for his late brother's five-year-old son Ellis.

It would have been easy for Mr Strawbridge to let his brother's death drag him back down.

He remembers: "When I went into the office, they said it was bad news and the adrenalin just started rushing through my body even before I knew.

"I don't know what happened to me. I felt ill."

Even after his brother's murder, Mr Strawbridge was not able to go home.

"My family were allowed to visit me for an hour or two, a couple of weeks afterwards," he said.

"It was hard. I just wanted to be with my family."

Recently Mr Strawbridge drew on his experiences to inspire a rap, which he performed at the recent Fashion Rocks Wales event.

Talking about his future, Mr Strawbridge speaks with a steely resolve.

"I know I'll get my degree, even if it takes me until I'm 30. I will get there and become a teacher.

"This has become like my new fix," he said.

"It is a driving force."

PANEL Mr Strawbridge is now taking A Levels in English Language and Literature at Coleg Gwent's Nash College and has had a piece of coursework published in a specialist magazine.

Now he has ambitions to become a lecturer one day.

He first discovered his passion for teaching while on a young offenders institute mentoring scheme, helping other prisoners improve their reading and writing.

"Seeing the joy in someone's face when they've understood a line for the first time, it's something I can't explain," he said.

"Some people would get violent or aggressive if you corrected them.

"But with others, you could really tell you were making a difference."