The former Home Secretary made the vow to the Yorkshire Evening Post at Leeds Magistrates Court yesterday, where he was meeting the team behind the city's groundbreaking Dedicated Drugs Court and Specialist Domestic Violence Court.

Jordan Horsley, 16, poured Domestos over Annette Warden at the Frankie & Benny's restaurant, Kirkstall Road, Leeds, after she asked him and his friends to be quiet at the nearby Vue Cinema.

On Monday he was locked up for 12 months, on top of five months spent in custody, following a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Told that people had questioned the sentence length, Mr Straw, who studied law at the University of Leeds and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Law in 1999, said: "I understand the concern."

He added: "I can pass a note to the Attorney General's office."

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said it would then be up to the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, to consider whether the case met the test for an unduly lenient sentence.

She can ask the Court of Appeal to review the sentence and if it agrees the penalty can be increased.

Mr Straw also assured West Yorkshire residents the "shambolic" mismanagement of Leeds Magistrates Court, revealed in a damning report in 2008, was "a matter of the past."

The file exposed how more than 500 defendants, some accused of serious crimes such as indecent assault, had arrest warrants withdrawn by court clerks to clear a backlog.

He said there had since been a "dramatic improvement" and while it was impossible to say it could never happen again, "the chances of it happening are tiny".

Mr Straw, former president of Leeds University Union, also visited Leeds Islamic Centre in Spencer Place, Chapeltown, as well as the University, where he spoke to students and staff.

This week the University and College Union launched a ballot for industrial action over Government funding cuts which puts 700 jobs at the prestigious university at risk

Mr Straw's life membership of the union was withdrawn in 2000 because members disagreed with his political decisions – but it was reinstated some years later.