Meet Wrexham Rural’s new Inspector and his Support Sergeant

Meet Wrexham Rural’s new Inspector, Matt Subacchi and his Support Sergeant, Sophie Ho.

The Welsh speaking duo, and one of the youngest in the force to lead their district, took up their new posts earlier this month, succeeding Inspector Gavin Gilmore and his former Support Sergeant, Geraint Richards.

Insp Subacchi, from Wrexham, has worked in a number of areas of the force, most recently including as an inspector for the Police Intercept Team and Drones Unit.

The 36-year-old joined the force in 2009 as an officer in Wrexham city, where after two years, he moved to various reactive units, targeting offenders causing most harm to the community.

In 2016, he became a Sergeant, before moving to Flintshire North as a Support Sergeant in 2020 for 12 months.

The dad-of-two, whose wife and sister also work as officers for the force, said: “I knew I always wanted to return to local policing, it’s where most of my career has been.

“I’m a local lad who comes from a family who have lived, worked, and are integrated in the community. Some of my immediate family work as community councillors, one is a magistrate, and another is a teacher.

“I was brought up in this community, I went to school here, I live, and work here, as do my family. I care about the place I work in.”

On his plans for Wrexham Rural, covering all communities in the county outside of the city centre, Insp Subacchi said his focus, with the support of Sgt Ho, is crime prevention and to make the streets a safer place.

“Ultimately, our focus is to make the communities we live in safer and reduce crime,” he added. “We will endeavour to make the streets safer today than they were yesterday.

“My slogan is ‘standards matter’ – it’s very important to us how our officers speak to people, how we look, how we treat victims, and suspects.

“But ultimately, those standards are in order for us to reduce crime and to do that, true partnership work is essential.”

Sgt Ho, whose husband also works for the force, is originally from Gorton, Manchester and moved to Flintshire at the age of six, where she began learning Welsh.

Coming from a family of labourers, the 29-year-old former Ysgol Glan Clwyd pupil was the first in her family to become an officer.

“Before I first looked at joining the force, I was looking to become a lawyer and it dawned on me that as part of the job, you might end up defending some really naughty people,” she said.

“When I asked myself if I could do that, the answer was no, and that’s when I decided to join the police.

“It’s a job where you can make a difference, you’re the one looking after people – my goal is to make people feel safe, and being an officer fulfils that.”

Alongside her role as an officer, Sgt Ho also studies part-time for a degree in Criminology and Psychology in a bid to add to her skill set.

“It’s a nice little challenge, I like to keep busy,” she said.

She has worked in a number of areas of the force, most recently including her role as a Sergeant in the Wrexham Rural district.

In 2012, Sgt Ho joined the control room as part of the Investigation Support Team, before she became a police officer in Wrexham city the following year.

In 2016, she worked as part of the Operation Tasking Team before joining CID the following year, covering all eastern areas and focusing on offences of honour-based violence. In 2019, Sgt Ho then returned to Wrexham city as a response officer before moving to the Wrexham Rural area in 2020.

She said: “My vision comes more from a CID background, so my focus in this role is to utilise that by giving people a voice, whether that be by getting good results for people in court or being a voice for people in the community.

“It’s also important to us that people to feel safe. When people call us, we want them to know we won’t let them down and that we will go above and beyond for people. Nothing is too difficult for members of the public. For me, that is why I joined the police.”