BIKIE leader Vince Focarelli has been placed in protective custody after safety threats from other prisoners.

Now leader of the fledgling South Australian chapter of the Comancheros, Focarelli, who was arrested for breaching parole conditions, is now being held in the Adelaide Remand Centre following a risk assessment of his "situation", which identified possible threats to his safety.

Senior Correctional Services managers deemed the risk of housing Focarelli in Yatala Labour Prison too great because of the number of rival Hells Angels associates held there.

Focarelli has survived two attempts on his life over the past year as the long-running dispute between the Hells Angels and the New Boys street gang simmered.

More than a dozen New Boys members, including Focarelli, have joined the Comancheros bikie gang - also bitter rivals of the Hells Angels.

While declining to comment on individual prisoner movements, Correctional Services chief executive Peter Severin said prisoners such as Focarelli were initially placed in an area where "we have a very high level of control" pending the risk assessment.

"Once that is completed he would be moved into a normal mainstream unit, but making sure there are no prisoners identified as potentially not compatible with him," he said.

Focarelli was arrested on a parole warrant after being caught by police in a car in Gouger St with a fellow Comanchero members - a breach of his parole conditions that stipulate he is not to associate with any outlaw motorcycle gang members.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/jailed-bikie-rivals-threat/story-fn6bqphm-1226032594301