But now the 36-year-old Newcastle United fan is back in England and admits he has 'blown the lot.'
The penniless Geordie's Spanish villa has been seized by the bank and he has abandoned his Irish-themed pub.
His sister has also lost her Spanish home and his mother's may follow. It is reported that Lawrence, 36, was so broke he had to borrow his taxi fare to the airport.
Since the hard-drinking Geordie's's win, which put him at 61 on the Sunday Times rich list, fortune has not been kind to him.
His best friend died, and in 2000 he and his family fled Tyneside after thugs torched his house and his sister's car.
Then, in 2009, his beloved father was found hanged in the home his son bought him.
Before Lawrence returned home from Spain, he told friends on Facebook: 'I won the lottery 13 years ago and blew the lot so I have plenty of stories to tell.'
He added, worryingy, 'Mite have 6 grams of coke so I can chew me ear off watching Emmerdale.'
Lawrence's story echoes that of former binman Michael Carroll who turned up to collect his £9.7million win wearing an electronic offender's tag.
Nine years on, the self-styled King of Chavs, is back to where he started - on the dole after squandering his fortune on drugs, gambling and thousands of prostitutes.
But last year he insisted he is just as happy getting £42 a week in jobseeker's allowance.
Carroll said: 'The party has ended and it's back to reality. I haven't got two pennies to rub together and that's the way I like it. I find it easier to live off £42 dole than a million."
'It's a bit strange going on the dole again because that's what I was doing before I won.