I always hear conflicting stories but I think the general consensus is that there is not much excuse for having a sports bat or heavy blunt object next to your bed but it is reasonable to have a torch near your bed which may happen to fall to hand if you need to defend yourself. A 1kg fire extinguisher might also happen to be mounted on the wall in your bedroom, fires can break out anytime so its better to be safe

Only a fool would keep a bat of some sort near their bed anyway...they are friken useless as a weapon in an enclosed space.

I also believe that the law is written to allow you to defend yourself but its not written to allow you to beat the crap out of someone stealing your TV or car (your not in personal danger) and it certainly does not allow you to chase someone down the road and then beat them up.