Two wealthy Nigerians who battered a fellow student with a shisha pipe in an argument over who had the richest father have been spared jail.

Elvis Ilonze, 20, who has had his Mercedes car covered in fur, attacked his childhood friend Prince Nnaji in the flat they shared in Brighton, East Sussex.

Mr Nnaji tried to escape from the flat but Ilonze, along with his friend Daniel Oluyemi chased after him and beat him with a wine bottle on April 7 last year at about 10pm.

While inside the flat Louanna Rayawa, Mr Nnaji's girlfriend, tried to stop the attack, but was pushed to the ground by Elvis Ilonze.

The pair also assaulted law student Chiedozie Dibiagwu, 23, who was sitting on a chair nearby and witnessed Mr Nnaji being assaulted.

Nnaji and Ilonze had known each other from Nigeria, but when Nnaji dared to suggest that he had the richer father Ilonze decided to 'teach him a lesson'.

Ilonze and Oluyemi, 24, both pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning grevious bodily harm and were spared jail at the Old Bailey.