"So I thought 'stuff this'. I went up and grabbed him and brought him back in."
Barrett said the man emptied his deep pockets which contained a phone, souvenir brooches and other products the shop sold. He then turned around and fled.
Barrett was feeling particularly empathetic as his own phone had been stolen on his birthday a few weeks earlier.
"I'm just sick of seeing the small guy getting stood on. To fight back feels good.
"It's good to help somebody out."
Barrett said he would do it again "in a heartbeat" as he always appreciated when people took the time to do him a favour or give him a coffee.
He said people shouldn't judge the homeless as they have the capacity to do good too, they're "just going through hard times".
Cloris Vheng said she felt terrified following the man who had stolen items from the shop. As a small woman she felt vulnerable when confronting him. Which is why she was very relieved when Barrett stepped in to help.
"I followed him and said 'excuse me it sounds like you've got some of my product in your pocket and you didn't pay'. But he didn't listen to me, he just kept going, kept going.
"All the people just walked past me.
"The homeless caught the man and said you have to go back to the shop.
"The man didn't talk and angrily threw the things on the counter and left.
"I really appreciated the homeless man who helped me."
Vheng, who has had three attempted thefts at the shop in the past year, said she would meet up with Barrett and say thank you when she next saw him.
Angela Bevan, who works at Britomart, saw the whole incident unravel. She spoke to one of the men afterwards and he was "really chuffed".
"He said to me, 'That felt really good. I hate thieves.' I thought, good on you dude."
